Category Archives: Spiritual

Pushing Off

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 25, 2026- Hana took her first moves forward, this evening. She did this by pushing her feet off against my hands. It marks the first time she has been able to propel herself forward, while on her hands and knees.I look forward to helping her build on this, and seeing her crawl using her hands and feet, very soon.

Every skill I’ve ever mastered has involved a learning curve. It has often been mastered under a modicum of pressure. I’ve made a fair number of mistakes and at times been labeled a slow learner. In the end, though, I’ve been able to perform the task with a fair proficiency. It’s gone best, when I haven’t had a well-meaning family member or friend tell me to “just let an expert take care of it”

That may work when it comes to repairing a car engine or rewiring a house, neither of which I have the least bit of confidence in doing. Other tasks, which I have found interesting, and simple enough to do on my own, have turned out fairly well. I painted the exterior of my house in Phoenix, and got about 2/3 of the way through painting the interior, before the place was caught up in the housing crisis of 2008-9. I cleared the roof of snow, at the school where I worked in Maine, in the winter of 1976-7. I used to do routine maintenance (changing oil & filter, gapping spark plugs, changing belts and hoses) on my cars, before vehicles became computerized. I can do simple plumbing tasks. Athletic skills, even as mediocre as they are, came late in life.

All of which come back to mind, as my granddaughter’s life begins to take root. The skills she acquires in infancy and as a toddler will be achieved in an atmosphere of patience and support. There will be no pressure on this end, only the loving encouragement of three people who have lived through situations in which pressure was applied, by well-meaning but insecure friends and teachers, to get the skill learned quickly.

She will have a solid foundation in confidence building, before heading off to whatever school her parents choose for her. She will push off from a pier of love.

Ninety-Nine

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Posted by on in children, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 22, 2026- That is the age my father would have attained, had he lived to now. It’s been nearly forty years since his passing, yet I can envision a world with him, his older brother (who would be 101, in August) and his eldest sister (would have turned 102, in January). They were each fairly conservative in their world views, but they would likely be rather disconcerted at what is being done in the name of the system they each cherished.

Dad believed in the importance of character. He kept his word and expected us to keep ours. When one of us dropped the ball, which for me was more often than I’d like to admit, his admonitions were short and to the quick. He was not a violent man, so corporal punishment was rare. Letting him down was bad enough.

He would have been mildly amused to have seen me struggle with parenting a teenager, but he would be proud of the man Aram has become. He would be concerned with making sure that his great granddaughter was in a stable home-and so far, she is. I have no doubt that this will continue to be the case.

He would also be glad to see the overall size and stability of the family that he and our mother got started. Each of us has made our mark in the world, and none of it has come without struggle. In that respect, we shared his experiences. Our children have also done well, and his great-grandchildren, many of whom are in their teen years, are starting to make their mark in the world.

It has been said, in places, that 99 is a perfect culmination, a place to assess one’s legacy. I would say Ferdinand Joseph Boivin’s legacy is quite solid.

Springing Forward

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 21, 2026- Hana came into the world with winter, being born on the December Solstice, last year. It was a day later than usual, but that worked for my granddaughter. Early this morning, as her second season began, she turned over, from her back to her belly, and quickly turned her head to her left, as her father came over to see what had happened. I watched it all on the monitor in my bedroom, glad to have been in on the milestone.

Today is Naw-Ruz, which for Baha’is begins a new spiritual year. Iranians, Tajiks and Pashtuns have celebrated Naw-Ruz (“New Day”) for over 3000 years, since the Dispensation of Zoroaster. In the latter tradition, it is a twelve-day celebration. For Baha’is, it is this one day, and our local community gathered at Plano Baha’i Center, a spacious and lovely facility, for two hours of readings, songs, a Q & A game for children and youth and a large, delectable spread.

What was most heartening about this gathering is that, when children under 12 were presented with gifts by the Spiritual Assembly, and there were more kids than gifts, the children made sure that each of their fellows had a gift, even if it meant dividing up a whole gift. One girl was given a snack wand and, since her brother already had a wand, she gave hers to a girl who had a small bag of chocolates. The second girl brought over half of her chocolates to share with the first.

Ours is one of the strongest models for a society which is now struggling. It remains, though, a matter of acquiring knowledge, adopting volition and taking action. This is the bounty given to every person, in these days of confusion and disruption. I invite anyone reading this to check http://www.bahai.org.

Happy Equinox!

Not Invincible

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Posted by on in Social, Assistance, Spiritual, Inspiration, Personal Values, Striving

March 20, 2026- Chuck Norris died today, the last day of winter taking one of the last Winter Soldiers. He was a lot more politically conservative than I am- I think the last Presidential candidate we both supported was Ronald Reagan-and for different reasons. I thought the Great Communicator was a man of character (until Iran-Contra). Chuck said he liked the aura of machismo. Years ago, I was told, by two different groups of young men, that I looked like Chuck. The first group, of Navajo adolescents, would approach me by getting into martial arts stances-only joking, of course. The second, a trio of young Black men, on a bus going to Buffalo, said I could go around spouting lines from his movies, and some people would do a double take. No one really close to me, though, has ever recognized a likeness.

I never met Chuck Norris, but I watched “The Way of the Dragon” and many of the “Walker, Texas Ranger” episodes. I also got a kick out of the Chuck Norris jokes, even doing a spoof on Xanga: “Chuck Norris vs. The Most Interesting Man in the World”. (The latter was a character on a Dos Equis beer commercial, who was played by Jonathan Goldsmith). I believe one of the lines was “Chuck Norris yawns at the Most Interesting Man, who doesn’t dare yawn back.”

It is at times tempting to take solace in the exploits of a supremely masculine figure-but eventually, the He-Men pass from the scene, as Chuck Norris did today. When I was a kid, I was in awe of Charles Atlas and Jack LaLanne. Charles (nee Angelo Siciliano) was a body builder, well before the heyday of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He lived to be 80, then died of a heart attack. Jack was a diet and exercise guru and lived to be 96, then died of pneumonia, after refusing to see a doctor. In the 1960s, the two were seen as invincible-Jack even said he “could never die, because it’d ruin my image.”

So it goes, and it is equally true of those public figures who seem invincible in their own right. They will come to a reckoning, like you and I and everyone in between. It’ll shock some of their admirers, but as Chuck would say; “You become what you choose.”

Re-assessing and renaming

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 19,2026- I propose, as some others already have, renaming the commemorative, unofficial holiday known as Cesar Chaves Day, National Farmworkers Day. Juneteenth is, rightfully, a Federal holiday; so should there be a day to honour all farmworkers. How many of us chowhounds would willingly pick potatoes and carrots all day long? How many would work the fields picking melons and strawberries? Even emptying trees of citrus fruit, apple, peaches and pears is backbreaking work!

A social justice movement is far more than the one or two who are its public face. I prefer to call the January holiday that has been focused on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Day. As much admiration and respect as I have for Dr. King, he himself would have been the first to say he was not a perfect individual. He had his lusts and pitfalls, though he has never been accused of such atrocities as those or which his contemporary, Cesar Chavez, has been posthumously charged.

The revelations documented in the New York Times illustrate the folly of adulation. Small children idolize their parents and grandparents. As they get older, they learn of their elders’ imperfections. Hopefully, they continue to love those elders, but they will know that they are not amidst living saints.Along those lines, we were wise, as a nation, to recast George Washington’s Birthday as Presidents Day- honouring at least those whose terms in office added luster to the nation’s history and offering a fair assessment of those whose terms did not.

Cesar Chavez apparently gave in to the worst elements of the culture in which he was raised, compounded by the bright lights and hero’s welcomes he received. It will be a step forward, for any future leaders, to transcend the impulse of feeling that there are lesser human beings, who owe them favours for what they have achieved.

There are no lesser human beings.

Bloodlines

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 17, 2026- Today being St. Patrick’s Day, my thoughts go to the Irish heritage on both my mother’s and father’s sides. The Kusches, who hailed from Szcezcin, Poland, back when it was Stettin, Pomerania, ended up in St; Louis and Chicago, by the mid-19th Century. Papa Kusch journeyed east, as a young man, and became a shoemaker in Boston, and a small farmer in Saugus. Before they were Kusches, though, they were Cooks-in the area around Wexford, Ireland. Poverty, and the Hanseatic League’s allure, brought them to the Baltic shores. The family was proud of having been prosperous in Germany, and in the Midwest, and I heard little about our Irish roots, but I always felt a draw to the Emerald Isle. Mom had me pledge to look into her side of the family, when we talked of the genealogy that my Dad’s older brother had compiled. I thought that meant going to Pomerania, but last summer’s visit to Wexford, and nearby Rosslare, brief as it was, introduced me to a few people who looked strikingly like my mother and aunts. I later learned their family name was Cook. Part of me wants to go back and spend more time there, but that will need to wait.

My granddaughter will have far taller order, should she ever want to check out her roots. Half of her bloodline is Korean, and there are probably some Chinese ancestors. going way back. The other half is Heinz 57: German, English, Irish, French, Penobscot, Jewish, Lithuanian, Romanian, and Scottish. Her present and near term well-being, though, has me refocusing my energies. The journeys I undertake in the foreseeable future are all along the paths of introducing a little soul to the wider world.

That brings me to a separate point. There was once, at a Baha’i-sponsored conference in Florida, a zone set aside for protesters. Neo-Nazis and Black Separatists found themselves next to one another, in that small zone. There are, on both the Far Right and Far Left, those who today preach the credo of division. The truth about human relations is “whatever we say it is”, and any who call for reconciliation between ethnic groups or “racial” entities are accused of clinging to outmoded, discarded concepts. I beg to differ: It is the very divisions to which they cling that are outmoded, counterproductive and dangerous. Clothing them in academic jargon, or using tones of ridicule, do nothing to bring a longed-for peace. I have to wonder if peace is even what they want- or is conflict more alluring?

Regardless, as Hana and others of her generation show, bloodlines are no respecters of truly outmoded ideologies.

Balloon Game

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Family, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 12, 2026- Spending time with an infant is not just feeding, changing diapers and being close by while the baby sleeps. There are developmental skills to be nurtured and a bond to be established.

Hana likes a new game, where two differently coloured balloons on strings are tied loosely to her ankles. Each balloon is anchored by a magnetic clothespin. As she lies on her back, she can make the balloons bob up and down, by the kicking motion that comes naturally to a newborn. She is fascinated by the movement of the balloons and by the fact that she has control over how high or low they go. She is also showing coordination between her two legs. To her, though, the best part is looking over and seeing that either her mother or I is lying by her side on the mat, enjoying the activity as much as as she is. Having her face light up is worth everything.

She is also fascinated by lights, staring at the chandelier or at the “on”light of a humidifier. Tree branches waving in the breeze draw her attention as well. This little girl knows no boredom, and I hope it long stays that way.

Each of us needs a balloon game, to develop skill and keep us occupied for a reasonable period of time.Each of us also needs to know that someone recognizes what we’re doing, and hopefully shares in the joy we feel while doing it.

No Fakery

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

March 10, 2026- The grainy images float across the computer screen, showing clearly spliced images of Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein and some of the other principals-victims and perpetrators alike. It is a faked video.

I am no fan of any of the people named in the released documents-be they Republican, Democratic or members of the Galactic Goo Party. In my book, if you hurt another human being, especially for your own satisfaction, the full force of the law should be yours to face. That goes double for those who hurt minor children.

That said, I question whether the released video is even from Iran. The images remind me of the hokey porno films that some of my friends showed, on thankfully rare occasions, back in the late 1960s. I was not impressed then, and I am sickened now. Who, exactly, put this thing out is quite debatable.It is plausible that it was put together in a western Asian locale (I refuse to call the region “The Middle East”. That is an old school, colonialist term.) It could also very well be just another double reverse attempt by the guilty to obfuscate and distract.

Regardless, I hope those who have come this far, in pushing towards justice for the victims of Epstein & Company, are neither distracted or fooled by today’s “video release”. Stick to perusing the documented evidence!

International Women’s Day

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 8, 2026- I had the best of intentions, ordering a lox and tomato bagel for my daughter-in-law , for International Women’s Day, especially as it was part of the local bagel shop’s fundraiser for prevention of violence against women and girls. Saved By The Bagel is a take-off on a popular 1980s sitcom, “Saved by the Bell”. Yunhee is on a dairy-free diet, for Hana’s sake, until mid-April. I forgot that bagel shops almost always add a shmear (cream cheese), so when I got the sandwich home, she contented herself with the tomato, onion and lettuce on the part of the bagel that had no shmear. She said she also doesn’t eat lox. It meant more to her that I honestly loved the beef stew she had made, three days ago. I had four bowls of it, two on the night it was made. I also spent the afternoon with Hana, so that Yunhee could have a few hours to go shopping for items she wanted, or the house needed.

One of those items was an electric chainsaw. She got a deal on it, and proudly presented it to me, knowing that I wanted to tend to the bough that was 80% severed from the oak tree in the front yard. I got the chain on the wand, but had to consult my neighbour on the corner, as to the finer points of tightening the chain. This led to his coming down to the yard and essentially cutting the bough and its branches, as the saw is one of his favourite tools. His son-in-law was along, to help me keep the ground around him free on fallen branches. There is nothing more dangerous than someone who gets carried away with a power tool. We three managed to get the job done in less than an hour. I offered them the better pieces of cut wood, but they declined. I got in my exercise by moving the debris to the back, by the alley, where I will cut the longer branches down to smaller units tomorrow.

That part had nothing to do with IWD, other than getting the men out of the house. International Women’s Day is never about men giving things. It is more about women empowering themselves. The notion that female humans are inherently worthwhile, and don’t need men to complete them, is oddly enough, only fairly recently a widespread concept. There have always been women who have stood on their own two feet, for life. Some have married; others just forged their own successful paths. Some have raised children; others found fostering animals more fulfilling; still others found the nurturing of ideas and creating products more to their liking.

On this International Women’s Day, I recall the lives of my grandmothers, who raised twenty children, between them; of my mother, who raised five of us and was the glue for her extended family; of my sister, who remains a matriarchal figure for her children and grandchildren; of my late wife, who earned three Master’s Degrees, the last while in declining health. There are women whose memorials I have visited: Civil Rights icons-Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Nina Simone; Holocaust victim Hana Reiner, and astrophysicist Eleanor “Glo” Helin, whose asteroid research is celebrated at her place of work, Palomar Mountain. There are the women friends who work wonders, every single day, in fields from astrology to auto mechanics to home renovation.

Mostly, though, I look ahead, to all that my daughter-in-law has left to achieve and to all that my granddaughter can choose. My grandnieces, likewise, have an infinite realm of possibilities in front of them, because of the work that their mothers and grandmothers have put into having their strengths, ideas and dreams recognized and appreciated.

We’re all better off because of what women have done.

Small Havoc

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 7, 2026- A heavy rain fell, and there was a fair amount of thunder and lightning, into the mid-morning hours. A branch of one of our trees is partially severed from the main trunk and is now partially covering our front sidewalk. That gives me something to work on tomorrow, when the weather is expected to be nicer. My goal is to at least clear the sidewalk. Working from the outermost edge towards the thick part of the branch, I should be able to get a fair amount of the debris cleared and hauled back to the alley. The larger part of the branch will take a bit longer to clear. Son won’t be back for another two weeks, so I will carefully get what I can done rather than leaving it all for him.

There was a warning of possible tornadoes last night, but none materialized this far south. Our safe zone is a windowless bathroom on the first floor. Strangely, there is no community shelter, but there are plenty of “tornado shelter companies” willing to sell shelters to individual families. I guess the idea that this is an individual endeavour strikes me as odd. The only times that I have been near a tornado, in Missouri and in Ohio, there was an active effort at getting people together in community shelters. Fortunately, we were spared, this time. My condolences to those people in eastern Oklahoma and southeast Michigan who were not so fortunate.

Every part of the world has its drawbacks, either in terms of natural phenomena or of being in the crosshairs of some conflict. There are always innocent victims, in any event. My job now is making sure that my granddaughter isn’t one of them. Not everyone thinks I have her best interests at heart. I guess they will just have to find out. Suffice it to say that no one will hurt her, as long as I am of sound mind and body.