Opinions

Having lived in Iowa all my life, I’m not familiar with the policies of other states regarding summer vacation and the beginning of the school year. I know there are places that take into consideration the weather (extreme heat or cold) and holidays (both religious and national) when scheduling the school year. Circumstances have changed dramatically since early pioneer days when schools were strictly local matters, often managed and taught by individuals with no official oversight by local government or even school boards.

In 1890, a New York City man named Eugene Schieffelin had the not-so-bright idea to import every species of bird mentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare. Among the few species he managed to actually introduce to the city’s Central Park, was a flock of European starlings (referred to in Henry IV). Within 50 years, starlings colonized the entire North American continent– with dire results.

Many years ago, I enrolled in an art class to learn more about painting with watercolors. I’d majored in art in college and had concentrated more on oil painting, but had always wished I knew more about this more portable form of painting. The watercolor class was in the summer and most of the sessions were held outdoors. I became acutely aware of the many different shades and variations of green there are in our landscape and eventually became seriously tired of green paint.

I’ve come to believe our perceptions and expectations affect things that seemingly happen to us by chance. Aside from birthday candles and chicken wishbones, we halfway believe praying or wishing for something will increase its chances of happening. Sometimes, even though we’ve given up hope, the thing we’ve dreamed of actually comes true and we start to believe in Lady Luck. Such things happened to me often enough I have become curious about the role of luck (or the lack of it) and dug out an old magazine article I’d saved.

I see in last week’s Economist that the Solon City Council is considering changing policy for the Citizen’s Speak portion of their regular meetings. Apparently, the council wants to get away from the status quo, which allows for citizens to speak up whenever on whatever topic is discussed.