Between Yesterday and Tomorrow

Last year's First Annual Artist Marketplace was unique, a survey of the Milwaukee art scene all in one spot. So Adolph and I are looking forward to once again setting up our tent, at the Second Annual Artist Marketplace, Saturday, July 29, 10 AM to 5 PM, in front of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Adolph will show small sculptures, including some he did at Benjy's Kosher Deli I'll show some of my latest sunrise paintings.
Rain or shine, (and I'm afraid rain is scattered into the forecast), we'll be there.

7/13/06 I suspect that gardens are contagious.

For years I'd go out of my way when walking or biking to pass flowery yards. But gradually more and more flowers appeared. Now I don't have to detour to have a garden tour.

Judy L and I took a walk yesterday. The morning was somewhat foggy, and from Atwater Bluff we could barely even see the lake. We walked down the curving path anyway. The mists disappeared to expose the sea of sumac, osier, holly hocks, blue bells, native grasses, thistle. I know everyone hates thistle, but purple thistle on the bluff, illuminated in the early morning sun, makes me forgive its prickliness. At the bottom, great blue herons swooped towards the shore on the beach to the south, ducks floated along the shoreline to the north, but we couldn't go in either direction. The newest additions to Atwater Beach are fences, no more walks south along the water's edge to the Nature Preserve, no more northerly walks till shore and water meet to block intruders. So we wound back up the path, once again enjoying the thistle.

Near the top of the bluff I once met a Russian immigrant gathering wild berries that I'd assumed were poisonous. He said they helped with his arthritis. As we passed the berries, still tiny in July, both Judy and I wished I'd probed a little deeper.

We continued our walk in the garden mode, along Lake Drive, then Summit, down Menlo past the burst of native plantings just east of Downer. I tend to like delicate flowers, seeds scattered with no particular organization, like a grab bag; Judy likes plant stands, much more orderly, yet our aesthetics overlapped as we analyzed each garden.

7/16/06 I suspect that I am contagious!

I visited our son Eli and his family yesterday but didn't want to go near my grandkids because I felt sick. I wasn't sick enough to go to the Emergency Room, and doctors don't hang out in their offices on weekends. I figured that, like Adolph last week and Gino C the week before, I had bronchitis and needed antibiotics, and I'd have to wait until Monday. My daughter-in-law Pauline said Columbia-St. Mary's has some new Urgent Care facilities, one right near the Outpost! So I went, and I do have bronchitis, have lost my voice, which has its good points, my only conversations are in mime, and I'm on antibiotics. The doctor said I could have ended up with pneumonia had I waited until Monday.

7/19/06 Yesterday evening I wasn't up to anything beyond a walk around the block. I thought. Once I was out of the house and saw the pastel sky, I decided to go in the direction of the lake, and at each corner, I chose to go one block further. Till there I was, at Atwater Bluff. I verged towards the overlook, then asked myself, why stand and gaze? I can look while I'm walking down. I glanced at the lake's striation and started along the path, the white holly hocks again, the beginnings of those berries... and suddenly I saw why I'd walked down. To the north, perhaps not visible from the top of the bluff, a scarlet cloud turned the water scarlet.

Even color is contagious.

RACY BIKES

7/13/06 From the cafe window of Schwartz on Oakland, I can see cyclists headed towards the international bike races about to start on Oakland and go right by my house on Maryland. Vehicular traffic is prohibited along the route, to the surprise of many drivers, including my husband who was barricaded in. People are setting up chairs, bringing out ice cubes, burger buns, burgers, brats, beer, ready to chip away the minutes between 4 and 8 PM; it's a neighborhood picnic, more a social than visual event, but then I'm not big on racing of any kind. I'm not even particularly competitive. Biking, however, I love, a slow ride. I watch what I pass and what passes me.

I came to Schwartz to write about Sunday's salon discussion on nonviolence, but now realize I should go back home and spend the day at the races, sitting in my own front yard. I'll take fifteen minutes more at Schwartz to gaze at ambling passers-by, an old man limping, fat baby legs in a stroller, a purple Mohawk, families with folding chairs, half the people eating or drinking as they walk; usually half the people are talking on cell phones.

This feels like a sleepy town on a hot day, but in 8 minutes that will change. U-turns are becoming ubiquitous, otherwise the pace hasn't picked up. A woman lead by her belly, the man behind her lead by his head, a Walkman walking, my chamomile tea too strong, that's because I've stayed too long, it's after 4!

And now I'm sitting on my non-toxic lawn. Here comes a wave of bikers, and the people in the next block cheer. Joe M asked me today why I think serious bikers don't wave back when he pedals past with his flatbed bike. Another wave advances, curved backs, tight outfits wicking away the sweat, bare legs, skinny tires, absolute concentration, whoosh, and they're gone. Maybe it's that absolute concentration. They don't even notice us, the non-competitive class, pedaling past. People shuffle, push strollers, pedal, giggle, chatter along the sidewalk, pass my house, my scarlet flax, blue flax, bachelor buttons, and me. Here comes the official white car, making sure the coast is clear, followed by the whooshing wave, then a laggard, far behind the rest. Pedestrians, picnickers, "Here they come!!" says a man to his tots, and whoosh again, then two laggards, that makes it more interesting. If they're slow enough maybe they'll rejoin from the front. Recreational bikers, dog walkers, sidewalk with a life of its own, white car clearing the way on the street, whoosh again, bikers getting further and further apart, four of them definitely leading the pack. How do the bikers speed around corners without colliding? Here's a laggard, about six blocks behind, that means the cycle wave's almost here, cycle of cyclists advancing, whoosh, some drinking and driving, probably Gatorade.

7/14/06 After dinner I walked my bike a few blocks; the crowd had grown, bikers going faster, a block-long blur, brakes screeching at corners. "When the bikers go by, yell Jellybellies, go Nick," a father said to his son. Hmmm, must be a local boy midst the international crew, certainly no jelly bellied bikers though. They're sleek as their bikes.

Doug W and I coasted to the bike path and slowly pedaled, 10 miles per hour instead of 25. We chatted with gardeners at the community gardens along the path near the Urban Ecology Center, asked if they bought their seeds from the peddler who supplied Jack of beanstalk fame, then continued to Alterra on the Lake for an evening of free opera. I knew back in Shorewood the bikers were still cycling in circles.

I want to convey a sense of Shorewood, the friendliness, the quality of life, and the problems. I never intended to start out with a problem, until I saw those little white signs in Atwater Park. Here's the blog I had originally written that day:

6/29/06 On Tuesday a man named Joe M came to our door. He said he's starting an environmentally friendly lawn-care service, no power mower exuding fumes and drowning out conversations, just an old push mower that he transports by bike on a small flatbed that he himself welded together from scrap metal. So yesterday Joe M and I spent the morning pulling bindweed, ragweed, creeping Charlie, and other predators intent on strangling or crowding out my flax, cosmos, poppies, and asters. I used to love my front yard garden. Now it's a full-time job to control it!

A teenager who lives nearby walked past, saw me weeding, and said, "Today I'm becoming a travelling kid." He and a friend are taking off for the summer, headed first for Minneapolis where they'll probably stay in a squatters' camp, or hang out with crust punks (I think the crust implies they never take showers), maybe sometimes they'll sleep under bridges. "Hmmm, what do your parents think of this?" I asked, and he indicated his father didn't mind! "Well, goodbye if I don't see you again," he said as he left me, then added, "until the end of the summer."

About an hour later the travelling kid passed again, a small backpack on his back with a blue sleeping mat rolled up on top of it; he was off to change his life. Anyway I think so. I did something similar when I was twenty, travelled in Europe and North Africa, often alone, and that determined the rest of my life. Though I didn't stay in squatters' camps, I once slept in a flophouse in Rome. And our son Eli went off to Taiwan when he was nineteen; 22 years later we have four half-Taiwanese grandchildren.

As I weeded a spot that's been ours for 37 years, I was thinking that now it's the wanderer passing ME by. But this one didn't seem ready.

Later on I ran into the travelling kid's father and asked about his son's trip. "He's not going anywhere," he replied.

I had other blogs in mind, but once I saw pesticide signs in Atwater Park five days before the park is filled with families watching fireworks, I had to do something. I sent an Email (Those Little White Signs) to my Grass Roots listserve, and posted it on this blog. The responses to the first Email were so intense, I had to forward some. Here are abbreviated versions of my next few messages:

* * *

Second Email:
Suzanne, depressing, how could the village do this? They know we are so concerned. I'm not going either.
Janet Nortrom

* * *

From: Michael D to the Shorewood Trustees:
Just last week while walking my dog to the bike path I had a similar disheartening experience. I was on my way across the soccer field- the one back by the Little League field near Taylor's on Oakland. This field is used by many young children, in fact there are soccer games for 5 year olds on this field!
But there I saw an individual spraying pesticides anyway. What's more- there were absolutely NO SIGNS posted later that SAME DAY when I walked back. This time I stayed on the sidewalk.

It's bad enough we are all being poisoned. It's even worse that those of us who care about our health, the health of our families and neighbors, and the health of our community aren't being made aware of what areas are deadly and which aren't. Those tiny little signs are a joke. If they are put out at all, they're often blown from their puny little plastic holders within a few hours. Walk around the neighborhood tomorrow after the windy day today. You'll see these worthless warning signs all over- but not attached to the places they are meant to be warning against.

Reputable scientific studies indicate the clear and present danger of these toxins in our community. The health of the community is at stake, and the leadership of the village Shorewood has been made aware of the dangers. It would be prudent for the village to be concerned about the potential liability of poisoning it's citizens as well.

* * *

Suzanne, Just wanted to say thanks for circulating the news about Atwater Park and
the extremely useful letter -- I've written my own letter to the whole board
and passed your email along to several friends not on your list. 
Amelia Z

* * *

Unbelievable! I hope the letter was sent to the Herald also.
you would be pleased to know that Ace Hardware is out of 20 Mule Team Borax since the last posting describing it as a good alternative for killing weeds.
Rochelle

* * *

Nicole and Suzanne-
I just read Nicole’s note to the Village Board, forwarded by Suzanne Rosenblatt. Well said. Is there a way to expand awareness about this issue, leveraging a little PR about this? Ideas could be: having a small “demonstration” at the fireworks with posters notifying people about the application.  Handing out leaflets about it. Encouraging people to log onto the healthy communities project to learn more.  Or talking to the press about this? I recognize this could be incendiary (pun intended) but is there a way to do this so that people can be exposed to the information in a truthful yet respectful way?
D. S.

* * *

Thanks for Atwater email -
have forwarded to Unitarians & several others
Dotty

* * *

I recently saw on the internet an article correlating exposure to pesticides with the development of Parkinson's disease....
which, when you really think about it, is a small price to pay for being in a dandelion-free environment
Harvey

* * *

Third Email:
From Ellen:
As a 9 year sufferer of Parkinson's, I really wonder about people who risk this horrible disease for a perfect yard or park. It has robbed me of driving, writing, bicycling, buttoning, zippering...and more to come, even thinking and my life itself. What a trade.

* * *

From Stephen in Door County:
Fireworks of a different nature in Shorewood

* * *

From Antonia in Door County:
I am very excited to read about your work, sorry it took your dog's passing to bring it out there and many blessings to you both. I live in an area (Door County) where the lawn care is alive and well and feeling like it is running right into the water supply, but of course "they" all say that it dissipates....I have to say one of the ugliest sites I know of is a total green lawn, so un-natural and perfect, ...at whose expense??? thank you

* * *

From Sarah L:
My 8-year old daughter asked if we are going to march against the
pesticides. I think we should block the trucks that spray.

* * *

From Milwaukee P

If you ask me, the Shorewood fireworks are the best, and I'd planned to go with my children, grandchildren, and a group of friends with their children. But now the pleasure's gone. Five days before the fireworks, I saw pesticide warning signs all over Atwater Park! The Department of Public Works knows these substances are too dangerous to use on school grounds, yet they sprayed Atwater Park just before the entire community will be celebrating there. We'll all be sitting on, picnicking on, poisoned grass. If we go.

Last year when preparing a presentation to the Village Board, I discovered that Shorewood uses 2, 4-D, an extremely toxic herbicide. Google it, and I doubt you'll want to sit in it or track it into your house on shoe soles. It is used in “weed and feed” products, was a component of Agent Orange; is linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, linked to prostate cancer in farmers, is a known endocrine disrupter, causes reduced sperm counts and/or increased abnormalities in sperm. It's found in residential carpet dust up to one year after application outdoors on lawns. There's a lot more, including the research by Warren Porter, at UW-Madison.

Here are the protection specifications for people who apply 2,4-D: they must wear face shield, goggles or safety glasses, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, socks and shoes and chemical-resistant gloves. Perhaps that's what we all should wear to the Shorewood fireworks!
Nicole B just sent this letter to the Village President and all the members of the Shorewood Village Board, and I hope you, too, will let them know how you feel about this issue (their Email addresses are on the Shorewoodnow site):

Subject: pesticide use at Atwater park
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 08:44:05 -0600

Dear Mr. Swartz & Village Trustees,

I understand that pesticides were applied at Atwater Park in the past few days, as evidenced by the many warning signs posted there. This strikes me as incredibly irresponsible, given that in a few short days hundreds if not thousands of residents, including many children, will come to Atwater Park to enjoy the Independence Day festivities. What is worse, most residents will have no idea that they are being exposed, because the application was timed such that the state-mandated warning signs will no longer be required on July 4th.

I believe the trustees have received ample information about the detrimental health and environmental effects of pesticide exposure, particularly the effects on children. They should also be aware that pesticide residues can linger long after warning signs are removed. I observed a board meeting on July 11, 2005, at which this very issue was addressed. Numerous residents expressed their deep concerns about the village's use of pesticides, and about personal experiences with cancer and other illnesses that research suggests may be linked to pesticide exposure. The board also received at that time a detailed summary of relevant scientific studies.

The board's response just one year ago was heartening; members suggested that in the future, Shorewood might implement pesticide-free turf care on public land village-wide and even share resources (eg, organic fertilizer) with residents to facilitate their use of natural lawn care. Spraying pesticides at Atwater Park days before one of the largest village events strays awfully far from the intentions expressed at that meeting.

As a resident of neighboring Whitefish Bay, and someone involved in educating others about the dangers of pesticide exposure, I can tell you that many people look to Shorewood as the leader of the North Shore when it comes to policies affecting health and the environment. My family has even given serious consideration to moving to Shorewood because of what we have perceived as forward-thinking policies.

I urge you to reconsider the policy that allowed this ill-timed pesticide application to occur. Furthermore, I hope that you will re-post pesticide warning signs so that the residents of Shorewood and visitors from other communities can make a more informed choice about whether to expose themselves and their children to these dangerous chemicals on Independence Day.

Sincerely,
Nicole Bickham

www.healthycommunitiesproject.org
A healthier community starts in your own backyard.