Worst Highways

I-81: There's nothing particularly scenic about this highway in PA. Traveling south-to-north it begins in a broad, valley devoid of character. It stays there through the Harrisburg area, passing just far enough from towns like Carlisle and Harrisburg that one doesn't see any of those towns' character. It then splits from I-78 northeast of Harrisburg and becomes a highway that traverses the most colorless anthracite foothills one can imagine. In fairness, the highway passes through beautiful scenery in Virginia, but in that state the high way couldn't possible be any longer as it moves diagonally along the long, long spine of that large state. 

I-78: It's hard to believe scenery so ugly, so remote, and so inspired by the film Deliverance could exist so near Philadelphia. The trip between Harrisburg and when the highway mercifully ends at its junction with I-81 is essentially a time warp into an older, homelier America. By the way, one exit along that stretch is labeled "Grimes." Grimes? Are you kidding? 

I-83: I guess it's a highway that is somewhat necessary. After all, there's a virtual flood of commerce that must travel back and forth between Baltimore and Harrisburg. What, a highway with Baltimore as one terminus and Harrisburg as another? Please, the Interstate Highway System surely could have given this highway a more fitting final destination. Or, at least let I-78 carry the number from Harrisburg on down to Baltimore. The stretch of this road that travels through York County doesn't do much to boost Pennsylvania's scenic credentials. 

Marriage and Society

I'm not quite sure why The Washington Post decided so much space in the opinion section should go to the topic of marriage, but I'm glad it did. There were two thought-provoking pieces there, one about myths of marriage and another about how Dan Quayle might have been right 20 years ago in that whole Murphy Brown kerfuffle. 

This is a tough topic, in political circles, to be both truthful and sensitive. Yet it's a topic worthy of discussion. And I'm happy to see that considerations of marriage's importance are becoming more common in the media. I think a great elephant in the room of American political dialogue is the preponderance of out-of-wedlock births. There is a lot of research to suggest correlation between out-of-wedlock births and fatherless families and poverty. Meanwhile there is significant research to suggest that marriage is something of a token of middle-class affluence. Perhaps it's even a ticket for admission.

Divorce and same-sex marriage might seem to complicate this. To me commitment is the keystone of this dialogue. The important act is two adults entering into a covenant to commit, even with the knowledge that keeping that promise can at times become too difficult to keep.

We've become a more tolerant society in the last half century. That is a great thing! But tolerance doesn't mean free-for-all, and I think we would do better if we uplifted, honored, and valued commitment when it comes in the form of marriage between adults. This is where I think those opposed to same-sex marriage have been missing something big: that heterosexuals haven't done the best job advertising commitment as a valuable act in modern-day society.

My own exhibition of being tongue-tied in the previous two paragraphs is perhaps testament to how this is a topic that defies our best attempts to be both truthful and sensitive. I offer these comments knowing and loving people who raised children (and doing a great job of it) outside the institution of marriage. Still, I'm glad media treatment is starting to be cast on what role marriage can play in our culture. After all, we've been through a fascinating transition in the past five decades. Marriages became easier to sever. Divorce became less taboo. Same-sex relationships are seeing growing acceptance. The percentage of births that are out-of-wedlock have grown. Dialogue is welcomed.   

Egads . . . This makes sense! A case against sleeping in.

Interesting little study found on health.com. So, sleeping in on weekends leads to increased likelihood of obesity. Well, now I feel better for typically getting up in the 6 o'clock hour on weekends. More to the point . . .

One of the bits of wisdom my father passed on to me was that every hour one sleeps before midnight is twice as good as any hour one sleeps after midnight. That's one of those Dad-is-right-but-there's-no-empirical-proof sort of situations. It also complicated that tidbit of college wisdom that every beer one had at a party one night required one extra hour of sleep to oxidize. Such troublesome proverbs often made me speculate if it was possible to get a negative amount of sleep after a night of excess. 

Anyway, I'm glad I stumbled on this study. Saturdays and Sundays are precious days for they are days of rest. I abhor using up that valuable day of rest in bed. Yet then I go downstairs and watch TV. Hmmm. Guess I'm not really investing time then, just spending it.

A Mormon Candidate

Jennifer Rubin wrote a pretty sharp criticism of the recent front-page New York Times piece analyzing the impact of the Mormon faith on Governor Romney's life. She raises some good points, but I think she is wrong on a few counts. First, I felt the New York Times article was a fairly objective accounting of how belief has guided Romney. It sheds light on something that gives a lot of meaning to his life. I feel like I know the candidate and his faith better as a result of the piece. 

Second, though I think Rubin is right to point out the cynical condescension of the New York Times by choosing to even write the piece, I think that kind of cynicism about faith is more widespread than just the intelligentsia of New York. A lot of Americans simplify and downplay the meaning of faith. Bluntly, religious faith isn't much a part of many people's life. That the media in this instance decided to explain rather than demean his Mormon faith is something I appreciate. I think we could use more conversations about faith in this country.

Though Ms. Rubin might be right that any piece analyzing the Jewish tradition or Catholic faith of a candidate would be deemed bigoted, she is overlooking the place Mormonism right now occupies in American life. It is a faith many Americans distrust and disrespect. The portrayal of Mormonism as seen in The Book of Mormon and South Park is not characterized entirely by good-natured humor. And it wasn't long ago that the Mormons were being chased across the continent to flee from Americans determined to exterminate them.

When I look at the Mormon faith, I see much more to admire than despise. Like Catholicism, it is a discipline of Christianity that I have great respect for though I cannot necessarily adhere to it. The analysis piece in last week's Times did nothing to dissuade me of that sentiment.

Favorite Roads

When I get bored with my desktop image I look for a photograph from one of my favorite roads.  Here are some roads and highways that mean a lot to me. 

Interstate 80.  I'll always associate it with trips to my grandparents.  I've logged many, many miles on it and I must have some good karma for I've never been pulled over by one of Pennsylvania's Finest along it.  I get a thrill when I go by the sign marking "Highest Point of Interstate 80 East of Mississippie" near Clearfield.  The The stretch from the Susquehanna River out to the Lock Haven Exit is spectacular scenery. 

U.S. 6.  Years ago my wife and I thought we had no money, so we made traversing the state on this highway our small vacation.  Quite picturesque.  The drive through the Allegheny Forest is beautiful.  The scenery between Scranton and Mansfield is at times spectacular.  The town of Wellsboro is one of the prettier in all of PA.

Route 23.  It's home for me.  I could drive much of it with my eyes closed, for it was the only way to get from home to any kind of civilization, if one is to call Pottstown civilization.  It cuts through Warwick Township (Chester County) along a ridge that takes you through Knauertown.  It's a beautiful drive, with lovely hills (well, lovely if you're not riding a bicycle). 

Others mean a lot to me, but I think I'd rather save my energy for a post where I blast some of my least favorite such as . . .

How a long summer gets short

I have been eager for this summer for some time.  It will be the longest stretch off from work I've had since beginning this profession.  However, it's funny that my stretch from June 8 until September 4 is starting to fill with interruptions (but at least they are fun interruptions):

• For the first long weekend of the summer my wife (and daughter) will be away.
• For the first two weeks of the summer, all of us will be on the road in California.
• There's a pretty neat history workshop that could consume a week in mid-July.
• A half-week at the shore with family looks like fun.
• Let's mix in a baseball game with a cousin and a visit to Cooperstown.
• Oh, and let's not forget some sort of anniversary surprise for my wife.  

These are good ways to have a summer go by quickly.  I look forward to the 10 or 11 weeks I'll have with a four-year-old and a six-year-old, kids who are in the midst of an age where time with dad trumps all, and before time with friends becomes so much cooler. 

I resolve to spend as much of this at a pool and with other kids in the neighborhood as is humanly possible. 

Eternal Resonance

Our church is bidding farewell to our long-time office manager, who is retiring.  Her job will not be filled upon her departure.  It will be folded into another position an experienced member of the staff will take. 

When my father retired, his job was eliminated.  When my mother retired, her job was eliminated.  I've seen colleagues depart and their jobs simply disappear once they left.  Though it's a better fate than to have a job eliminated before one is done with it, I've usually felt sadness when I see someone leave a job and the job simply disappear.  Does it undermine the meaning of what they did?  Does it suggest that the person wasn't useful anymore. 

I think it's time I moved on from that philosophy.  Perhaps I'm moving on from it because I realize that the same fate awaits me.  More importantly, I think it's useful to not judge a person by how useful they are which, if I mourn the loss of a job they are finishing, is the prism through which I'm looking at the situation.  In some way all of us are useful to our organizations.  But we have a lot of useful things in life.  And useful things constantly become useless or archaic.  It is that way with tools, appliances, and, I guess, vocations. 

Some time ago I remember a pastor giving a sermon urging us to look for something that possesses "eternal resonance" - a job or calling that lends us to becoming meaningful in ways that transcend money, fame, or status.  I think that is what we, when we are truly fortunate, must do when we find the jobs that pays our bills.  If we find a career that fulfills us, we get the chance to enrich others.  Perhaps we enrich our families by earning the income that supports our kids' aspirations.  Perhaps we enrich others by serving those with whom we work.  Perhaps we enrich others by contributing to the reputation of an organization that is bigger than the sum of its parts.  In our careers we have the chance to shape and influence those around us, and when we do that we transcend mere usefulness and even value.  Our job descriptions, jobs, firms, and markets are temporary things (though they often outlive us).  The impact we have on those we are around and on the greater good we foster is what has some real chance at attaining permanence.