Snippits: Lyon Days of Summer

So recently Nate and I have been pretty busy, which is the way it should be in the summertime.

My "little" brother Steven graduated from high school this spring, so Nate and I both flew back in mid-June to celebrate at his grad party. This "quadrupled" (or more) as a good trip to celebrate my other brother's birthday, Father's Day, and Nate's sister Liz's August departure to China to teach English for a year near the city of Xi'an (well-known for its archaeological wonder the 'Terracotta Army'). Besides all of these celebrations, we did a lil apartment hunting around Lake Calhoun, which is where we want to live this fall when we move back. It will make Nate's work commute short and my access to downtown and transit (and JOBS) pretty good too. It was nice and weird to visit the "Cities," as we call it, knowing that we would be going back.

I guess it was a lil bit of solidification that, yes, we are indeed going 'home.' I think in many ways it made me (and Nate too) more conflicted about the decision to do so, rather than easier. I think in our chosen group of peers and generally with many Gen X'ers (is that the right one?? I can never figure out which Gen I am exactly), the need, and often necessity, to explore and live/work cross-country (or abroad, as the case may be) is often so much emphasized and considered a 'desirable' quality both professionally and socially. It has always felt to me that I have alienated alot of my older (and some same generation) family members with all of my traveling and living away from home. I got over that part. However, it is strange in a sense to "come home," as if doing so is viewed as making a concession or fulfilling our destined status quo. It may still take some time, but I think I am slowly accepting that our next geographical status is not such a thing, but rather a bending to both the economic will of the country (and globe, for that matter) as well as our underlying desire to end up near family. It just is happening much sooner than I think we both wanted, but these things cannot always be helped. Nor do things always work out the way you plan. When we made the decision to come out to Philly, it was late July/early August 2008---- about 2 months shy of the total economic meltdown. I'm lucky I was in the job market earlier last year and even secured anything at all before that meltdown. There's no way we could have known how hard it would be for either of us to secure a new job upon landing here, that is-- Nate by the end of 2008 and me by August 2009. Right now, mentioning that you are on the market for a job is pretty much a joke. And trust me, Nate TRIED to get a job. I know, because I hardly saw him in the evenings between November and April/May while he was glued to his computer searching for something. Not to mention several close, but unsucessful interviews, which in a better market would have landed him a job several times over, I believe. Anyway, our best recourse, through luck and strategy, has been for Nate to keep the job he has (quite a premium on KEEPING your job....) and return from contract to salary status (in-office) in October/November after our move. I'll be on the market again for something new and do some descending or lateral professional movement with internships (unpaid) until I find something "good." That's the plan anyway, and we all know how often Plan A's are stuck to. A work in progress is what I see in our future.

Last weekend (the weekend after our MN trip), our Lyon friends, Nicki and Dusty, came to visit us for a long weekend from NYC. I've known Dustin since our days in undergrad and then got to know both during grad school in MO. They moved out to NYC so Dustin could go to seminary at St. Vlad's in Yonkers, and so we FINALLY got together out here on the E. coast! We did a bunch of touristy stuff, but taking it easy too. We went to the Morris Arboretum which is just up the street from us and which Nate and I saw last fall with all the beautiful colors. This time, the huge rose garden was in full bloom, which was gorgeous. We also went to see Independence Hall, which when my parents were here in February ended up being evacuated mid-tour due to a gas leak (thanks Steven.....), so we were forced to find other entertainment and miss half the Hall! This time we got the FULL tour, as well as saw some of the original copies of important American documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. We also went into an old U.S. bank building converted into a portrait gallery full of images of historically famous Americans. Of course, we saw the Liberty Bell (for me, my 3rd time) which is always fun.

Furthermore, in the greater Independence Park area there is the historical American Philosophical Society's building, which happens to be right next to Indep. Hall. The APS is a well-established, great society of learning, science, other things. Their website (http://www.amphilsoc.org/) gives a description of their society as, "An eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, the American Philosophical Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. This country's first learned society, the APS has played an important role in American cultural and intellectual life for over 250 years." Established through the advocacy of Benjamin Franklin, the Society has many recognizable founding members, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Madison, and Thomas Paine. As a learned society dedicated to the investigation of scientific, natural, and technological knowledge, the APS is an important founding establishment of the United States. Another quote from the APS website states, "The enlightened terms of the Society's charter and the location of Philosophical Hall adjacent to the seat of government clearly illustrate how closely the new nation linked learning and freedom, regarding each as the support and protection of the other." I bring this all up because they had a really wonderful, small exhibition on the documents which Charles Darwin left behind. Of course, the name 'Darwin' always stirs the pot in a mixed crowd, unfortunately. It was a one-room gallery with displays of the hand-illustrated and often hand-written scientific notebooks from Darwin's many projects and voyages, as well as other texts from contemporary naturalists and explorers. It also included some interesting mechanical inventions from Darwin's time, too. All in all, it was a nice lil exhibition, from which I gleaned something new-- that is to say "learned something."

Having said all this, it was not a surprise that the exhibition turned off some tourists and park-go'ers, albeit incredibly unfortunate and ignorant on their parts. I have to report one woman's irrational and rude behavior toward one of the gallery attendants and in front of all those perusing the gallery. She walked into the foyer of the gallery and demanded to know what Darwin had to do with Independence Hall, the Constitution, and America. "Why is this here and what does THIS have to do with the Constitution?!?" is one question she practically yelled at a gallery employee handing out gallery guides. I couldn't hear what the employee said from across the gallery, probably because she was talking at a normal volume. Whatever she said to mollify the crazy, ignorant woman apparently didn't entice her to stroll in and see for herself. She stormed out, husband (presumably) and child in tow. It was pretty ridiculous. And, it was obvious that throughout the gallery, people were incredulous and whispering to one another about what happened. After this incident, I reflected about what had happened and deemed her just another dumb American who perpetuates ignorance on the basis of not inquiring for oneself new and different ("foreign") information. People like her tend to only listen to and read the words of others with whom they already (think) they agree. That is NOT learning and what does that teach your kids about learning? You learn nothing about the "other" side (which of course, is a polarization view, rather than a broad spectrum view), except perhaps what other, already like-minded people tell you, which is often distorted through an opinionated, dogmatic, agenda-based lens. To truly learn, one must read and listen to the words of others with whom they feel they may not agree or understand. This incites analytical and independent thinking, and thereby, learning. The APS building, to answer her heated inquiries, has been there nearly as long as Independence Hall. It is a free society of learning. It is exercising its rights to publish that knowledge to a hopefully learning-hungry (democratic re-)public wanting to exercise its rights to be educated and understand the world around them in as many ways as they can. These are the reasons why the yelling woman was wrong to walk out of an exhibit she thought didn't belong. However, by the same token, she was also well within her rights to exercise her freedom to believe what she wishes. It goes both ways (or no one gets freedoms) and I guess we all have to learn to accept that. You might say I learned a little more about what liberty in America is that day.

Getting around town some more and to some of the other close-by cities is still on Nate's and my to-do list before the fall. Right now we are tentatively planning a trip to Boston for my birthday weekend, and I also really want to go to VA to see Monticello, Jefferson's estate just outside DC. Of course, we want to go to NYC and visit the Lyons and downtown, but that will proly come in August/September. I wonder if we have enough weekends to fit it all in!!

Stay tuned and here are some fun pics from our summer adventures!