Point of View

Out for Delivery by Laura J. Oliver

November 27, 2022 by Laura J. Oliver 1 Comment

One of my writers just had a story rejected and we’re both thrilled for her. Why? Because the journal can’t use the story, but they love her work and suggested she send something else. Fist bumps all around. If only all rejections were this good.

So, I wrote a book in a year in which I was living mostly alone. Kids all launched at quite a distance, husband in Europe. I’d quit teaching at the University of Maryland thinking I’d be traveling to Europe as well, then changed those plans, and literally overnight, I was jobless and home alone in a very quiet 4-square.

When I finished the book, I sent a query and proposal off to 10 publishers. About a week later, I got a call from a small, independent publisher in North Carolina. He loved the description of the book and the next thing I knew, the pasta water was turned off, dinner on hold, and I was having the most exciting conversation of my life with Frederick B. Diehl.

We talked for an hour–about how large the first print run would be, (small), whether or not the book would be available online, (no). An advance? (No, again.) Royalties? To be determined. But published! By someone not-me! He told me to send him the entire manuscript and he’d get back to me by Friday. This was Tuesday.

I did what I always do in a situation that cautions objectivity. I became instantly enamored with Mr. Diehl, his publishing company, his wife and children, and his labradoodle. Soulmates! I Fed Ex’d him the entire manuscript the next morning.

But Friday came and went with no word. Two long weeks after our conversation, just as I was walking out the door to teach a writing workshop at St. John’s College, the Fed Ex guy tossed a package onto the doormat containing my entire book. When I opened it, the cover page wore a tiny stick-on note that simply read, “Not what I was expecting. Fred Diehl.”

I was gut punched. This was rejection-rejection. Not good rejection. Rejection with the added sting of surprise and confusion. And loss that is perplexing is always harder to release than loss that is understood.

But I had a class to teach. So, I drove over to St. John’s and as I organized their manuscripts for discussion, I gave 17 writers my embarrassed sorrow. We all laughed at the fact I’d practically moved in with the Diehls and I confirmed they were off my Christmas list. Then we moved on to the group’s work and as they shared the fruits of their imaginations and memories, I thought, I can choose how I feel about this. I don’t actually KNOW that getting that contract would have been in my best interest. How many times in my life has a disappointment turned out to be the best possible thing? (And yes, I’m talking about you Robbie Eaton). Maybe there’s no such thing as good news or bad news. If I take what I think I know out of it…

It’s just news.

Just news.

And the feeling caught the wind, and the sails of equanimity billowed and by the time I walked from Barr Buchanan to the car that night, I thought, Maybe good fortune is winging its way to me right this minute– over mountains, over cities, over rivers and roads–streaming down from the stars overhead. Maybe a miracle is in transit–out for delivery to my life (or yours)–right this minute. We don’t know that it’s not, so imagine it is. An excellent lab result, the coveted job, the healthy child, the restored sense of wellbeing in place of despondency.

In the morning, I woke up, and as is my practice, said thank you for this new day before my feet hit the floor. I blessed Frederick Diehl. (Goodbye, Fred. Goodbye! I’ll miss you and the life we could have shared!) May he be happy and successful, I asked, may he sell lots of books and may his dog live many years. I said thank you to the universe on principle for this disappointment because thank you shouldn’t be selective any more than love, should it? “Thank you for this loss,” I thought, “for being in it with me. Make of it what you will.”

I poured a cup of hot coffee, added some milk, turned on my computer and saw an email from Penguin Random House sitting in my inbox. One of the five biggest publishing conglomerates in the world. The acquisitions editor apologized for the delay in responding to my proposal. It had been routed to their Indiana headquarters instead of to their New York editorial offices and had been delayed by two weeks.

“Is this book still available?” the email read. “I’d like to offer you a contract.” That contract included an advance, royalties, online sales from 20 countries around the world, multiple reprintings, a long shelf life in every Barnes and Noble in North America and a publicity firm for a year.

Plenty of things have happened in my life and yours that defy any other way of looking at them than as misfortune. Loss. Heartbreak. And I’m not a fan of “everything happens for a reason.” Stuff happens that hurts. Inexplicable, unfair stuff happens to the innocent, to people we love. Evolution itself is one accident after another.

But it feels to me that if you ask, presence can be called to join in the experience with you and that’s often transformative. The secret sauce is thank you on principal, unconditional thanks. Thank you on trust. Because in the moment, you don’t know good news from bad news.

It’s just news.

Your work is to untie the knot that binds you to disappointments you don’t understand by becoming clear about them. Then acknowledge this: we don’t know the endgame; we can’t see the goal line and we don’t even know the rules.

But if you ask, (and maybe even if you don’t), you are never alone on the field. And you can only catch a miracle if you’re looking up.

Laura J. Oliver is an award-winning developmental book editor and writing coach, who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House). Co-creator of The Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, she is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction, an Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, a two-time Glimmer Train Short Fiction finalist, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her website can be found here.

False Memories by Angela Rieck

November 25, 2022 by Angela Rieck Leave a Comment

Our memories are important. They make us who we are. They allow us to be a part of our world, and our friends and families’ too. Most importantly, they allow us to have a common experience, and share a common bond.

But what is memory?

When I was in graduate school, psychologists had developed the constructs of long-term and short-term memory. Short-term memory was famously codified by George Miller in his seminal paper The Magical Number Seven Plus or Minus Two. (It was a good paper, an even better title.) I say codified because in fact humans had figured this out. Phone numbers were 7 digits, zip codes were 5, etc. After reviewing the research, Miller concluded that humans can easily remember between 5-9 digits…but these numbers did not always get into long-term memory.

At the time, we assumed that long-term memory was like a filing cabinet, where we stored each memory. An inability to remember was due to the filing cabinet being full or being unable to find the “file.”

Without measures of brain functioning, all we could do were studies on memory, creating hypotheses based on recall or recognition and how memories were acquired, e.g., classical conditioning (where we pair two stimuli) and operant conditioning (where we reward behavior).

As usual in science, the advent of measurement allowed us to learn more about memory and made scientists aware that these views were way too simplistic.

Brain imaging studies revealed that a single memory is actually stored in multiple places. We have separate places in the brain where we store the sensory part of memory (taste, smell, sound, touch, visual), others where we store observations or events, and still others that store automatic memories (e.g., how to tie a shoe; how to drive a car).

The act of remembering requires the brain to locate and coordinate all of the information associated with that single memory from multiple parts of the brain. Instead of a single file we have multiple files of the same event and a mechanism for knowing which memories are connected to each other.

Even the amygdala gets involved. As many know, the primary function of the amygdala is to regulate emotions, such as fear and aggression. The amygdala plays a part in how memories are stored because storage is influenced by stress hormones. Also, we store that feeling from that event (e.g., phobias). In a study, researchers encoded fear memories in mice using classical conditioning, in this case pairing a shock with a tone. The amygdala allowed the mice to remember that a tone is associated with a shock, and they learned to fear the tone. It is suspected that this amygdala encoding is a source of anxiety, PTSD, phobias, and other psychological conditions. Some researchers have been successful in eliminating phobias using repeated exposure, and, more recently with lasers and injected drugs to directly impact the neurotransmitters and eliminating the association of the fear response.

The concepts of short and long-term memory are based on how long we store the memory. Before reaching long or short-term memory, information perceived by our senses and may be encoded into sensory memory (e.g., recognizing a red fire truck), which is immediate and fleeting. If we pay attention to that sensory memory (e.g., the fire truck) we can bring it to short-term memory (which lasts for 15-30 seconds). Then, in some cases, short-term memory transfers that memory to long-term memory.

Working memory is a type of memory that is often confused with short-term memory. Working memory uses both short-term information and requisite memories from long-term memory. (For example, when adding two numbers; the brain combines the short-term memory for the 2 numbers, plus the long-term memory of how to add.)

There are many types of long-term memory. For example, the memory to do an automatic task, such as tying a shoelace, involves different parts of the brain than recalling what we had for dinner last night.

The memory for tying a shoelace is called procedural memory or implicit memory. These are tasks we don’t need to consciously think about before we do them, for example, typing (if you learned how to type), writing, pouring water into a glass. Multiple parts of the brain are used to process and coordinate the muscle movements and steps. The basal ganglia (in the middle of the brain) and the cerebellum (near the brain stem) are most involved in coordinating the memories required to perform an automatic task. (But don’t forget the amygdala, if this task generates a fear response, such as pouring boiling water.)

Declarative or explicit memories, on the other hand, are consciously remembered events (such as someone’s name); basically, what most of us think of when we think of memory. It uses the hippocampus, which is a seahorse-shaped structure in the middle of the brain and the prefrontal cortex, located in the front of the brain.

And yes, there are other types of memories (we are rounding the curve, folks, I promise). Spatial memories capture geographically where an object is.

Semantic memory stores explicit facts and pieces of knowledge (e.g., what a horse looks like, your son’s birthday), while episodic memory stores events and occurrences (e.g., riding a horse, his 2nd birthday party).

Then there are the sensory memories: echoic memory, iconic memory, and haptic memory. Iconic memory retains sight information, echoic memory retains auditory information and haptic memory retains sensation or touch information.

Autobiographical memories are the memories that make us human and connect to others. They are typically combinations of semantic and episodic memories that contribute to our sense of self—your own life history and identity (Am I smart? Am I nice?).

See how complex it is? And, I believe that we are just getting started. The better the tools, the more we will learn.

My big question is “Okay, we know where memory is stored, but how does it get stored? How does the brain remember?”

Scientists believe that memories are created at synapses, by building new neurological connections. Simplistically, neurotransmitters connect the synapses, and the hippocampus helps the brain build new connections.

But here is the rub. And it is very, very important.

Scientists have discovered that the same neurotransmitters used to build memory connections are also used to recall a memory. And these neurotransmitters continue to build connections during recall, which enables the building of new connections capable of changing the original memory. That means that simply the act of recalling a memory can cause us to alter the original memory by using the same neural transmitters to add new connections to that memory.

Think about that, and its implications. Just the act of recalling a memory can cause us to change any of those types of memories!

The process allows us to add features of the present day to the original memory. I have done this many times. For example, when I am trying to recall where I left something, let’s say, my phone. I frequently create a memory that I placed it in a location that I did not. I can “recall” the color of the table, the room, the time of day, and the sound of it ringing. I created this false memory as part of the act of trying to recall where I left my phone.

Scientists have been able to successfully implant false memories in most subjects just through suggestion. Some “memories” are outlandish and can even go against that person’s nature.

For example, one gentle subject “remembered” that she had been in a fight with a friend and the police were called. That never happened. The researchers did this by telling the subject about this fight while the subject was recalling a related memory. In this example, the subject was asked the year, the park, and the name of the friend. The researcher then asked her, “Don’t you remember the fight you had with your friend in that park? Your parents described a fight with this friend where the police were called.” At first, the subject denied it. But over several sessions, the researcher continued to ask the subject about that fight while asking her to recall the related information. Over time, the subject added that false memory to hre original memory.

Think about the implications for us. It is one of the reasons that eyewitness testimony is often inaccurate. We build new connections for sensory, semantic, autobiographical, explicit, geographical, and other memories into the actual memory when we recall the event. How many times have you spoken to a person where you shared a “memory” and you had different dates, locations, etc.? You had the event memory of being together, but everything else was changed.

Today, we have video on cell phones to the capture the actual event. It can only help all of us because our memories have too many opportunities to fail.

Scary, isn’t it?

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

The Uncageable by Al Sikes

November 23, 2022 by Al Sikes 1 Comment

Repetition is not my favorite activity. But, like all of humanity I have my habits. They revolve around the physical—eating, bathing, sleeping and the like. When it comes to the mind and its variable emotions and reason, repetition is something I mostly avoid.

I read that many have watched The Godfather dozens of times. I have watched it once. Variations on The Godfather’s themes saturate movies and television. None are as well done, but I digress. My tendency with much of what is dramatized is to pause, enjoy and then move on.

Yet, I have always had an unquenchable interest in God—yes, the upper-case one. My interest in God is in part due to my knowledge of gods and the inescapable struggles we all have. The gods of temptations are especially challenging and too often degrading. Our underlying weaknesses need an upper-case god; of that, I am sure.

An especially interesting feature of God or the possibility of God is mystery. Good mystery writers have trouble avoiding formula and after a couple of books by the same author the protagonist becomes predictable. But, for me, I do find authors who engage and probe the mystery of life an unyielding attraction.

Curiosity about God and necessary mysteries are limitless subjects. And, infinitely important. Take The Trinity, for example. It is a central tenet of the Christian faith. At its most basic it is a belief in derivatives—that is there is a God and He chose to communicate with us through a sentient being, Jesus Christ, and a perpetual presence, the spirit or what credal readings call the “Holy Spirit”.

At the risk of becoming too personal and to some, opaque, I know there is a spiritual influence in my life. As my mind spins, the rotation and direction draw energy from forces easily and not so easily understood. Somewhere, deeply embedded in the operating system (OS) of my mind is a voice that influences and certainly transcends the OS.

The room in which I write surrounds me with pictures and various artifacts from a long life. As I look out the window, for me a necessary diversion, I can identify most of the plants and birds. What I struggle to pin down is what believers, indeed most of us, think of as the spiritual dimension. And I am not thinking about the occult.

My sense of order tells me I should now consult a dictionary and give you a well-ordered definition of spirit. I have chosen not to do that; I know that a dictionary definition will strive to cage the uncageable.

So let me turn to a vivid experience in my own life. Every person comes to the same end—death. It is often preceded by weeks or months of anticipation. Impending death occupies the deepest interiors of our mind and is unrelenting. My bout with cancer was instructive.

Society seeks to find institutional responses. Hospice, for example. And increasingly laws are being re-shaped to allow euthanasia—presumably a shortening of agony.

My Dad opted for neither—he chose what I think of as the spiritual option. Dad was not an overtly religious person; his interior life was quiet and in his final chapter I learned of its depth. I recall vividly a scene in a small room just off Mom and Dad’s bedroom. His friend and pastor and me talking about what comes next and then Dad’s surprising request that we hold hands and pray.

Final chapters are deeply personal. And, of course, a spiritual presence is not a pharmaceutical. Yet, we cannot help but celebrate the spirit as we talk about the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, there you have it. I could riff on expressions of faith and maybe I will at another time. But beyond the urgings of biblical history and its many interpreters (theologians) for me engagement with the spiritual is the enduring and essential mystery. It is there, but what is it? What is its source? What does it urge? How should I respond?

We humans have a need to sort things out. But, how do we categorize what we can’t see or reach out and grab? Or, using analytical methods, conclude? The next time you are in a bookstore (physical or virtual) search out those who help us puzzle through the mystery of the transcendent—the spiritual dimension. It is enduringly interesting and infinitely important.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.

Much To Be Thankful for This Year by J.E. Dean

November 23, 2022 by J.E. Dean 3 Comments

While 2022 has had its ups and downs, as Thanksgiving arrives, I am thankful. Perhaps because the Eastern Shore has been exceptionally beautiful this year, I am, for a change, focused on the positive. The glasses I see are half-full, and I am grateful for that.

Let’s start with the scenic beauty around us. Despite having been on the Eastern Shore for more than a decade, I remain in awe of the water. It still excites me to see herons in motion, and I treasure seeing sailboats race in the distance. I am grateful that, in my area, there are no tall buildings as it remains easy to imagine what parts of the Eastern Shore looked like 100 or more years ago.

I am equally thankful for those in our community who work to keep the Eastern Shore beautiful. They also work to keep development in check. And they remind us that the bay is fragile and only a few bad decisions can change the uniqueness of the Eastern Shore forever.

As I witnessed directly in recent elections, pushing back on the idea that all economic development is good is not easy. Fortunately, resistance is not futile. I see signs that even those who support economic development recognize the value in projects being rigorously evaluated for their impact on the environment, roads, healthcare, schools, and social services. This is a welcome sign for which I am grateful.

I am especially thankful this year for everyone who voted in this month’s elections, including those whose votes were different than mine. The only thing worse than “the other side” winning is voter indifference. If a critical mass ever throws the towel in on democracy, we are all in trouble. That is why I smiled every time I passed hundreds of road signs for candidates that “decorated” our landscape earlier this month. May I also express thanks that most of those signs have now been removed? I am grateful for those who help maintain a clean and uncluttered environment.

In the First District, an exceptional candidate, Heather Mizeur, ran for Congress and lost. I am grateful that she took on a race that was a long-shot and worked tirelessly on a campaign that focused on the Eastern Shore rather than something else. I thank Mizeur for running. I hope her loss this year will not deter her or someone of similar quality from trying again. Every time an exceptionally qualified candidate runs for Congress, the political process is improved. That is why Heather Mizeur deserves our thanks.

I am also grateful for my neighbors. I am originally from D.C. When I moved here, I was not prepared for neighbors to offer polite waves as I passed them on the road entering our community. I am also grateful to neighbors who are friendly to me even if they are not fond of D.C. and do not agree with what I usually write in this space. So, thank you neighbors.

This year (so far) I have been healthy. I am grateful for that. Thanks are due to helpful doctors and those who promote a healthy lifestyle. In particular, I am grateful that I attended a wellness retreat earlier this year and took some yoga classes which taught me that when I get angry or frustrated, I should take a deep breath, hold it, and then exhale. It works.

I would be remiss if I did not mention The Spy and editor Dave Wheelan. I rely on The Spy to further my understanding of the Eastern Shore. I do not know what I would do without it. It has enhanced my perception of the Eastern Shore and solidified my gratitude for being here. So, thank you, Dave.

I also must thank Dave for the privilege of writing for The Spy. Dave has assembled a talented group of writers and contributors, many of whom are “real journalists,” experts in their fields, and have remarkable resumes. I am fortunate to be part of The Spy team.

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects. He thankful for being part of the Eastern Shore community.

Soup by Jamie Kirkpatrick

November 22, 2022 by Jamie Kirkpatrick 3 Comments

When November arrived wearing shorts and flip-flops, I was lulled into believing that winter was still weeks away, and that I didn’t need to bring in the porch plants or shut off the hose bib. But then, just a couple of days ago, Buffalo was buried under several feet of lake-effect snow, Notre Dame and Boston College played football in a blizzard, and on a recent frosty morning, the very first thing I did upon waking was build a fire in the fireplace. Suddenly, it’s cold again.

The second thing I did that same morning was make soup: butternut squash soup with a liberal sprinkling of curry powder and some frozen peas and carrots. Chili and corn bread make a delicious winter dish and so does beef stew, but what’s more filling and better for you on a cold day than a big bowl of hot soup? Tomato bisque, clam chowder, chicken noodle, consommé; a steaming mug of soup is just what the doctor ordered. Fuel for the belly and, as any Jewish mother will remind you, good for the soul.

Soup has been around a long time. Our cave ancestors figured out how to boil water with hot rocks, and that plants or nuts tasted a lot better when liquified in it. In the 16th Century, street vendors in Paris sold a highly concentrated but inexpensive concoction they called ‘restaurant’ (meaning “something restoring”) and touted it as an antidote to physical exhaustion. A couple hundred years later, an enterprising Parisian opened a shop specializing in these steaming bowls and suddenly the word ‘restaurant’ had a more expansive meaning: any establishment devoted to eating. Thank you, soup!

Over on this side of the ocean, the first colonial cookbook, published in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1745, contained several recipes for soup. Some thirty years later, another cookbook called “The Frugal Housewife” devoted an entire chapter to the savory subject of soup. In the 19th Century, waves of European immigrants arrived on these shores, bringing with them all manner of new recipes for hearty soups, just what we all needed to build a new country.

The soup market boomed in the late 19th Century with the invention of canning. Suddenly making soup was easy, and almost overnight, it became a commercial success. In 1897, Mr. Campbell introduced Americans to a condensed version of his tangy tomato soup and today, that rich, red treat is still America’s favorite. Second and third prize go to Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom and Chicken Noodle; last year, we devoured about 2.5 billion bowls of those three alone!

Now, soup has its own international alphabet that runs the gamut from Aguadito, a Peruvian green soup that includes peas, carrots, cilantro and bites of chicken which is reputedly a good cure for a hangover, to Zurek, a Polish sour rye soup made with sausages, traditionally served in bowls made of bread. In between, there is bouillabaisse and borscht; gazpacho, goulash, and gumbo; spicy Vietnamese Phö and Philadelphia Pepper Pot, made with tripe. There are national specialties like Cock-a-leekie soup from Scotland, as well as regional delicacies like our very own Cream of Crab Soup, liberally seasoned, of course, with Old Bay. There are concoctions with exotic names like Bird’s Nest Soup, Egg Drop Soup, or Mulligatawny. The list goes on…

Yesterday, the grandkids came over for an after-school visit so I decided to conduct a little market research. “What’s your favorite soup?” I asked. They didn’t hesitate. “Maryland Crab with big lumps of crab meat” they all shouted—after all, they’re Marylanders. My wife was in the room helping the kids write letters to Santa, but I didn’t need to ask her; she can’t resist French Onion Soup with extra cheese. Me? I thought about stopping at the letter V for vichyssoise, a cold puree of potatoes, leeks, and cream, invented by a French chef at the Hotel Ritz in New York, but that’s a summertime favorite, out of season today.

But first things first. I went out to fetch some logs from the wood pile and rebuilt the fire in the hearth. Then I began to simmer a pot one of my favorite winter soups: Chippewa Soup, a redolent and creamy blend of tomato and pea soups, slightly curried and flavored with bay leaves, a smoked ham bone and some sautéed vegetables, strained away before serving. I’ll serve it with seasoned croutons, a hint of sherry, and a dollop of sour cream. Bon appetit!

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. Two collections of his essays (“Musing Right Along” and “I’ll Be Right Back”) are available on Amazon. Jamie’s website is www.musingjamie.net.

Out and About (Sort of): Military Crisis by Howard Freedlander

November 22, 2022 by Howard Freedlander 3 Comments

Ever since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the nation’s capital, I have become increasingly concerned about extremism in military ranks. At the same time, I believe that our defense structure is superior, serving our country adroitly and competently.

As I watched the disciplined assault on our capital, I saw men and women trained to operate effectively in a deliberately chaotic and dangerous situation. They were no ordinary rioters. They could wreak havoc with great efficiency. And they did, in front of a stunned nation.

Eighty of the 880, or 10 percent criminally charged participants were veterans. Five were active duty, including a Marine Corps officer and four reservists. The numbers are alarming.

The inflamed traitors did not disgrace a military uniform. They stormed our capital on their own time and dressed as civilians, hoping to overturn a legitimate presidential election. However, they dishonored the country that trained them by ignoring their oath to protect and preserve the Constitution and their nation. It mattered not to them; they were angry, feeling betrayed by their country.

The post 9-11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll. Men and women served and fought bravely, losing buddies and arriving home with psychological problems. They also lost faith in our nation because the wars seemingly accomplished nothing.

They returned home to economic distress and spotty care from veterans hospitals. They distrusted their civilian leaders. They noted that not all Americans served our nation, particularly those in the upper classes.

When well-intended Americans would spot a service member in uniform and then thank that person for his or her service, the greeting would be disdained, viewed as empty of any understanding about combat or overseas service. The social distance between the military and the civilian worlds consequently would grow after an authentic gesture of good-hearted gratitude.

The schism is just too wide. Our national divisiveness grows and festers. Alienation mushrooms. Tribalism abounds. Our culture and country suffer.

If the reader thinks that I am justifying the unconscionable attack on our beloved democracy, that perception would be dead wrong. I simply offer a context for the rise of extremism in our military ranks. The danger is real. We face the politicization of our Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. An undercurrent of unrest and distrust propels well-trained troops, still serving or retired, to act in a traitorously illegal way.

How does the defense establishment combat insidious extremism? Serious vetting is one way—that is, being more attuned to potentially un-American behavior on the part of recruits. Being more attentive to comments and prejudice expressed by troops is another way. While not trampling on free speech, officers and senior enlisted must counsel those with aberrant behavior.

Training, one of the military’s best attributes, must focus on hatred and anti-American behavior—while taking care to respect and revere the 1st Amendment. This is tricky. But the military must not become a feeding ground for extremists who use their combat training to destroy democracy. Our armed forces face the very real threat of becoming stigmatized by allegations of extremism. It flourishes only because it is apolitical, retains public support and trains to fight foreign despots.

Extreme thought and bigotry have always existed in our fractious nation. Though ugly and unctuous, it must be tolerated until it endangers American citizens and institutions, such as the U.S. Congress. Then, it must face persecution and condemnation.

I commend Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired Army general, for attacking extremism in our ranks, exposing it for its malicious intent. His concern cannot diminish. He must ensure that the chain of command disciplines those who advocate hatred and illegal disruption.

Democracy is too precious to confront destruction from within. The Jan. 6 insurrection must be a one-time civil disaster.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. After 44 years in Easton, Howard and his wife, Liz, moved in November 2020 to Annapolis, where they live with Toby, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who has no regal bearing, just a mellow, enticing disposition.

Heaven Rushing by Laura J. Oliver

November 20, 2022 by Laura J. Oliver Leave a Comment

My friend Sophie has a large standard poodle with a curly brown pompadour that flops in his eyes. On his hind legs, he’s as tall as I am, and with his long face, benign expression, and distinctive nose, he’s a dead ringer for country music great, Lyle Lovett.

Lyle wants a relationship. He moons around after me, gazing up reproachfully from under his mop. Every time I walk into Sophie’s kitchen, I have to tell him, “It isn’t happening, Lyle; not today, not ever.”

Sophie is studying Traditional Chinese Medicine and this afternoon I’m her practice subject. She is taking my pulses because she suspects my chi is not flowing properly. My impairment has something to do with my wood element.

I learn my yin organ is my liver and my yang organ is my gall bladder. “Your color is green, and your smell is goatish,” Sophie says, “but practitioners don’t attach judgment to those labels.” Lyle gazes at me without prejudice.

“I don’t want to be wood anymore,” I tell her. It’s supposed to be a joke.
“Of course, you don’t, ” she says, with complete sincerity. “I’ve never seen anyone try harder to be happy.”

It’s true. I’ve tried energy readings, meditation, exercise, therapy, therapy, therapy, and volunteering. I’ve seen a massage therapist and a palm reader. A young man at the Renaissance Festival even talked me into taking off my shoe so he could read my bare foot. Looking deep into my eyes he promised to read my sole. Of course, I heard “soul” and off came the shoe.

I’m healthy, love my family, own a beautiful home, and have a calling. So why has happiness always been the intriguing neighbor I’m afraid to invite over?

“Were you ever happy?” Sophie asks. I replay my life from zero to now on fast reverse.

I want to get the answer right both for me and for you. I’m familiar with every other emotion, particularly love. You’d think love would make happiness a given.

But love makes anxiety a given. And happiness makes vulnerability a given.

Maybe all happy people were adored children, or maybe nothing bad has ever happened to them. Maybe they’re not very bright, I think when I’m cranky. I pick up one of Sophie’s acupuncture needles, and the ever-alert Lyle is on the move. He’s slinking over, stops when I turn to look at him, and collapses with a sigh.

The problem is that all my life I’ve thought longing was the preferred connection to God. That not being quite happy was a form of humility and an insurance policy. God, check it out. You don’t need to take anything away because I’m not totally happy. Deal?

But acupuncture holds promise and hope is the emotion I know best. As I leave Sophie’s house, I glance back up the walkway to see Lyle standing on his hind legs looking out the picture window like a somber old man. Maybe he’s a prince in disguise awaiting unconditional love to reveal his identity. That would be transmigration, the return of the human soul in animal form, which seems ridiculous until you are loved by a dog.

At home I review the names of acupuncture points: Spirit Hall. Fly and Scatter. Soul Door, Heaven Rushing. When I was a girl, my mother told me suffering would make me a better person and there are so many people out there hungry, sick and sad. To feel joy in the face of suffering would be insensitive, wouldn’t it? A bit tone deaf to the times? But can I be sad enough to affect even one person’s wellbeing? Sick enough to make even one person well? Can I worry enough to keep even one person safe? What could joy do?

Martha Washington, wife of our founding father, thought happiness was a decision you make. A choice. Joy just because.

Because in some way we don’t understand, this all works. The cosmos contains more matter than antimatter, and the slight fluctuations in the early universe caused that matter to clump and galaxies to form. And a planet called earth coalesced in the goldilocks zone of a yellow star called the Sun. That rocky planet was knocked 23.4 degrees off her axis by a collision that gave her a solitaire diamond moon, seasons of growth, seasons of harvest. This season of harvest.

And dogs. That’s a lot of reasons for joy.

I’m beginning to think happiness isn’t a choice, it’s an obligation. Joy is your work, your offering, your gift to this beautiful world.

Joy is the secret subject of every story we share. Happy Thanksgiving. I’m grateful for each and every one of you.

Opinion: We are Not in Kansas Anymore! By Maria Grant

November 20, 2022 by Opinion 1 Comment

Last night, Easton’s Prager Family Center for the Arts held a concert featuring Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, violinist Joshua Bell, and soprano Larisa Martinez. It was, in short, magic. The featured musicians were at the top of their game. The program was eclectic and charming. The acoustics were superb. I felt privileged to be in attendance.

During one introduction to the selected program, Joshua Bell mentioned that he had never played in a venue quite like this one. It reminded him of the salons of days gone by. He is right. It is a unique experience to be so close to the artists in an environment with such amazing sound quality.

Gabriela Montero is a renowned pianist who gave her first concert when she was only five years old. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, as well as concert halls in Munich, Berlin, Bern, Amsterdam and other venues across the globe. Montero sometimes introduces improvisations into standard classical pieces, a practice that Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart also incorporated into their concerts. Montero also has composed many original compositions and released several albums. Her 2015 album won her the Latin Grammy award for best classical album. Her mastery of the eclectic pieces played on Saturday evening was pure perfection.

On Saturday’s performance, Joshua Bell was not front and center, as the concert truly showcased his wife, soprano Larisa Martinez. But, as usual, he did not disappoint. Bell made his Carnegie debut at the age of 17. His instrument is the Gibson ex Huberman, a Stradivarius made in 1713 during the Stradivari’s Golden Era. The violin was stolen twice and is the subject of a documentary The Return of the Violin. Bell, considered one of the greatest violinists of all time, has won numerous awards and has produced albums featuring Brahms, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Bernstein, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and many more.

In 2019, Puerto Rican-born soprano Larisa Martinez made both her Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall debuts—the same year she married Bell. Martinez appeared in her first opera when she was 19 as the shepherd in the third act of Tosca. She studied vocal performance at the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico and obtained her master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music in New York City. Martinez has performed in New York and other operatic stages in the United States and Europe. In recent years, she has performed with Andrea Bocelli where she typically sings one aria and then joins the tenor in four operatic duets.

Saturday’s program at the Prager included works by Mendelssohn, Schubert, Chopin, and Bernstein, as well as some Spanish and Puerto Rican pieces. The standouts of the evening were the Chopin Sarasate I Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2, and the concluding Bernstein West Side Story suite with outstanding performances by Montero, Bell and Martinez.

Easton owes a debt of gratitude to the Prager Family for bringing these amazing artists to a truly outstanding venue. Thank you.

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of a federal human capital practice at an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, piano, gardening, and nature.

Letter to Editor: The HDC Needs Its Own Lawyer & Environmental Expert

November 20, 2022 by Letter to Editor 10 Comments

On November 10, Washington College filed its new application to demolish the Armory–this one 118 pages long. But nowhere in those 118 pages is a legal opinion from any lawyer blessing the College’s proposal to lease the property to a developer to build and manage a luxury boutique hotel. This is “the elephant in the room” which the College side-stepped in its first application and side-steps again this time.

The restrictive covenant in the deed plainly limits the use of the property to “college and/or university uses.” Do these “uses” include leasing the property to a private developer to build and manage a for profit luxury hotel on the site? Is this money-making use permitted? No one knows at this point.

The HDC cannot authorize an illegal use; it needs to know whether the proposed use is legal. If not, the application must be denied. If so, the HDC could still decline to find sufficient evidence that the Armory’s issues cannot be remediated, a conclusion not yet proven.

There are other legal issues which also must be addressed before the HDC

can make a decision. These are:

Can the HDC demand to see the maintenance records for the Armory for the past 10 years? If the College failed to keep the sump pumps and dehumidifiers running, then the mold was inevitable. As one environmental expert told me, no sump pumps and no dehumidifiers turn the Armory into a greenhouse.
Can the HDC demand that the College obtain three remediation estimates based on the Sussex Environmental report? There has not been any evidence offered as to the cost of remediation, just the cost of tearing down the Armory.
Can the HDC demand to see the College financial records to prove that it cannot afford to remediate?
If the HDC finds the College guilty of “demolition by neglect” because the College has failed to maintain the Armory during its decade of ownership, what recourses are available to the HDC? Can the HDC enforce the 2011 promise of then College President Mitchell Reiss to spend $3 million to restore the Armory and to assume liability for any environmental issues on the Armory property? Can the HDC deny the College’s application to demolish the Armory? Can the HDC demand the College clean up the Armory and do what it promised in the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding?
Can the HDC enforce the provisions of Town Ordinance 93-13(A) and (B), which mandate that in a case of demolition by neglect, “the Commission shall attempt with the owner of the structure to formulate an economically feasible plan for the preservation of the site or structure.” Can the HDC pause this process so “The Commission shall have 90 days … to negotiate with the owner and other parties to find a means of preserving the site or structure.” Both of these provisions are mandatory, but may never have been enforced before now.

These are serious legal questions which must be addressed before the HDC can act. And the HDC must have its own, independent legal counsel. The duty of the HDC is to preserve historic buildings; the interest of those who favor tearing them down is not the same as that of the HDC.

The College wants to tear down the Armory and the Town Council has already approved doing so. Therefore, the HDC cannot rely on the College lawyer or the Town lawyer.

Under Maryland law, the HDC has the right to hire its own experts, including a lawyer to answer its legal questions, and have the applicant—that’s Washington College—pay for them.

An alternative is for the HDC to request a legal opinion from Maryland’s Attorney General. This is free but might take longer.

The HDC should immediately hire its own lawyer and hire its own environmental expert.

The HDC needs its own environmental expert to sort out the inconsistencies in the two environmental reports paid for by the College (one obtained only after the HDC rescinded its approval). The HDC—and the public it serves—deserve an unbiased assessment. And it is patently unfair to the HDC and the public for the applicant to use expert reports to support its application when there is no expert on the side of the HDC and the public to review and analyze those reports.

To repeat, The HDC should immediately hire its own lawyer and hire its own environmental expert. And send the bills to Washington College.

Barbara Jorgenson
Chestertown

From and Fuller: Trump Returns and will Democrats Give Joe Biden the Heave-ho

November 17, 2022 by Al From and Craig Fuller 1 Comment

Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss Donald Trump’s announcement that he will run again for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. Al and Craig also discuss the Democratic party dilemma of Joe Biden seeking a second term as president at 82 years old.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

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