January 13th

January 13th

My father was born on this day in 1916.

And even though women across the country did not even have the right to vote in 1916, a woman by the name Jeannette Rankin, from Montana, would become the first female to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives before the year was up.

Woodrow Wilson would also be reelected president by the narrowest of margins. The president would still manage to keep the United States out of the conflict in Europe but would send troops to Mexico. Blackjack Pershing would soon be vexed by the likes of Poncho Villa, as he chased Villa and his men back and forth across the border. Pershing would eventually declare victory, but it’s Poncho Villa about whom the legends are still told.

Gregory Peck, Betty Grable, Walter Cronkite, Daniel Shor, Martha Raye, Olivia de Havallin, Eugene McCarthy, and Kirk Douglas would also be born that year. My father admired these famous figures, even voting for McCarthy in the ’68 California primary. He also trusted the news if reported by Cronkite, and certainly liked Peck and Douglas in any film.

Now, a hundred and three years later, we’re still talking about Mexico and borders, and wish that Walter Cronkite was here to help sort it all out for us.

But on the upside, the number of women now occupying seats in congress has grown by a hundredfold since 1916.

And Kirk Douglas just turned a hundred and two. Ain’t that a kick in the butt – Spartacus lives.

Although my father was not famous beyond the family that loved him, and never ran for public office, he was elected president to the Lincoln Elementary School P.T.A. when I was in fourth grade and performed admirably – or so I recall.

But mostly, he was just our dad.

I think that counts for a lot more.

Bully Pulpit

Bully Pulpit

Noel Laflin

1-6-19

Teddy Roosevelt died one hundred years ago today. He was sixty years old.

As president, he gave the country our national parks, some fine quotes, and demanded that better looking eagles adorn newly minted gold coins.

He broke with the Republican Party in 1912 to run as an independent, but lost.

He conquered Brazil’s Rio da Dúvida (“River of Doubt”), which was later named Roosevelt River. The tropical diseases which nearly did him in on that trip were probably the cause of his eventual demise five years later.

He purportedly drank 40 cups of coffee a day, and as legend has it, put Maxwell House Coffee on the map when credited with the quote, “Good to the last drop.”

Roosevelt was a complicated man, but one worthy of study.

I think I will find my old Teddy Bear and toast his memory with a cup of coffee - only my third so far, but the day is young.

He is pictured here with John Muir at Glacier Point in Yosemite in May, 1903.

For the protection of that park alone, we owe him much gratitude.

Into the Moonlight

Into the Moonlight

Noel Laflin

12-24-18

On the night before Christmas, when all through the park,

Not a creature will stir, not even a lark.

But out of his tree, this fellow will streak,

Into the moonlight – with hardly a shriek.

So, watch out St. Nick, you jolly old elf,

As owls can be silent, masters of stealth.

They love to give chase to others who fly,

And snatch tiny reindeer right out of the sky.

The Sweetest Clients

The Sweetest Clients

Noel Laflin

December 2018

Years ago, we used to give out See’s Candy to our doctors and staff. Christmas was the one time of the year that sales reps were welcomed into offices with open arms.
 
Every year, months in advance of the holidays, we would be given a list of the current clients and asked to update.

Over the years some of the doctors had retired, left as clients, or died.

But somehow I always seemed to overlook those names.
My mother, father, lovers, co-workers, and friends never objected to receiving a pound or two of See’s Candy despite the label addressed to doctor and staff.

Ethel James

Ethel James

Noel Laflin

12-10-18

Ethel James was a petite woman who painfully shuffled across any room as she had contracted back in her youth.

She was our neighbor for many years, living with her sister and brother-in-law in the house next door.

Over the years, she gave us, the Laflin kids, ready access to her candy jar, the one always filled with chocolate covered peanut clusters – our first puppy - and her unyielding love, even after the time I made fun of her shuffle, showing off my version of it to my sister one afternoon. My mother caught me doing it and I have never forgotten the scolding. Children can be so stupid sometimes.

That puppy grew up and lived a long life even after Ethel, Janet, and Joe moved away.

The candy jar went with them too unfortunately.

But now, thanks to David and Susi, we have our own crystal glass candy dish - just like the one Ethel had some sixty years ago, and it has just been filled with chocolate covered peanut clusters – and memories of a lovely lady who inadvertently enlightened me to the gift of just being able to walk, and not shuffle across any room.

This first bite is for you, Ethel James.

Foolish Youth

Foolish Youth

Noel Laflin

12-5-18

I really struggled with the idea of when to give up a good night kiss to my father. I must have been around ten or so.

But it eventually happened as I felt it was not manly to continue on with the evening ritual, although I never stopped pecking my mother’s cheek each night.

My dad and I never discussed it. I wonder if he was hurt or relieved at the time. Wish I had thought to ask him in later life when I once again took up the practice of kissing him goodbye or goodnight.

But by then, he was an old man – mid eighties I suppose. I kept it up till his dying day – trying to make up for all of those lost years of foolish youthful pride.

To Remind Us of Days Long Ago

To Remind Us of Days Long Ago

Noel Laflin

12-2-18

When I was in sixth grade, we had to learn the Hanukkah song for that year’s Christmas pageant. It was Miss. Nakashian's nod to inclusiveness.

I loved the song and have never forgotten the words.

Testing my memory, I looked them up just now and see that our music instructor had made two small changes, however. One of the lines reads: “Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat - sevivonim to play with and latkes to eat.”

Apparently Miss. Nakashian thought that we’d never pronounce sevivonin correctly, so changed it to spinning tops. She also changed latkes to pancakes.

She was probably right about us kids screwing up the word sevivonim – I had to listen to it half a dozen times this morning in order to finally get it right.

But she should have left latkes, as it was, as the word is not tough to say – and they really are pretty tasty.

“And while we are playing
The candles are burning low
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.”