Legacy

   

        

It's only Sunday and already several of my readers have reminded me that my normal Friday/Saturday post is late!  I suppose I should be honored that some need their  fix of Kernal Ken on time, although I'm sure most can live without my weekly rant for a day or two.  There is a reason for this week's delay.

Tomorrow, 30 June 2008, is a special day for our family.  It has to do with the legacy that has been left for us.

First, the Queen Vee and Compound Eye of a Dragonfly will represent us at the funeral of Victor J. Nelson.  With most of his family at his bedside, Victor, 90 years old,  graduated with honors from this life on Thursday, 26 June and went home to live with our Heavenly Father.

 

 A Utah State graduate with a degree in zoology, a World War II Navy veteran,  a master builder and craftsman as well as teacher in the building trades, and a 27 year member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Victor's greatest accomplishments were in the lessons of life, of love and of kindness he left for his children and grandchildren.

And here is the impact.  Victor leaves behind seven children, two step-children, 35 grandchildren and 78 great grandchildren.  That's 122 people who know PERSONALLY of the skills, the character, the faith and the kindness of this one man, and countless more who will hear his story in years to come.  Well done, Dad, extremely well done...

Monday, 30 June is also a special day on my side of the family.  It is the 100th birthday of my Mom, Helen Mabel Christine Johnson Carlson.

Known as Moline, Illinois' "Fastest Woman" (for the right reasons), she was a track standout in high school and at The Chicago Normal School of Physical Education, where she earned her teaching degree and lots of championship trophies.

Her wedding to 2LT Gunnar Carlson was covered by cub radio reporter (later President) Ronald Reagan, but the glamour of a military wedding was quickly eclipsed by the cold of Northern Wisconsin where her husband commanded a CCC Camp, the scorpions and floods of Panama, the continuous moving in the pre-war Army and her husband's departure for the war in the Pacific.

May brought her two sons to occupied Japan on the first ship to carry "MacArthur's Pioneers."   Later, she and I travelled to South Vietnam to join my Dad who was one of 85 Americans in that country in the mid 1950's.  With my brother and I both returning during the war, the Carlsons  are one of the very few who can say that the entire family, Mom included, served in Vietnam.

An inspirational, devoted mother and a loving, generous grandmother, May passed her earthly test and peacefully departed in  2001 at age 93.  Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, although not as numerous as those of Victor Nelson, have been left with her inspiring story and example of duty, sacrifice and love of Country.  Her life, as that of Victor, will remain legend.  Well done, Mom, and Happy Birthday!

And as for you anxious readers, I'll see you on the high ground!

We Interrupt This Program...

Hi, there!  No guest blogger this week, just your regular Kernal Ken.

Things, as usual, are hectic around here.

Brother-in-law, Kirk Nelson, visited this past week for two days.  I asked him when was the last time he was here and he reminded me that it was last Fall.  Well, I told him, not much has changed since then, given the title of this post, "We interrupt this program..."

I got my "interruption" in mid-November.  Ever since then, my program has been interrupted by cancer.  Even the interruptions are interrupted, such as "you might not have to have the neck dissection...we interrupt this thought to bring you the following truth - they are going to cut you open anyway..."  

You've seen the scar and the staples, which are now out, and I am starting to recover from the surgery which interrupted my recovery from the radiation and chemo.  Thankfully, every thing is clean - so far.

Next we had the funny blog interruption where The Digital Architect demonstrated our previous lack of a discussion on sex by likening his own preferences to those of his three month old daughter.  What a hoot!

Then , on Thursday, the Queen Vee got the sad news that her Dad is deteriorating rapidly, so our program was interrupted by her departure this AM for Salt Lake City where she will be for some indeterminate period.

I think the message in all this is that John Lennon was right:

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Perhaps equally to the point is the saying of the noted Japanese warrior, T. Sakurai:

"In the moment of victory, tighten your helmet strap..."

There are more "interruptions" ahead for all of us.  I hope all yours are good ones.

I'll see you on the high ground!

 

Who's Your Daddy?

I (The Queen Vee) am sneaking onto Ken's blog today to wish him Happy Father's Day. Of course he's not my daddy, that would be Victor Nelson, but he is the the daddy of my children.

So Ken, thank you for being my partner in parenting. Your children are blessed to have you for their dad. Like all good fathers, you have carried the responsibility of fathering on your broad shoulders now for over 36 years and you have done it exceedingly well.

Yes, once you were younger and could hold two kids on your shoulders.

Then those kids grew up and soon you found yourself standing with them shoulder to shoulder.

Now they stand with you en masse, fathers themselves, pushing shoulder to shoulder marking the goal for their families. (What cute guys!)

So today I honor you and I honor our sons for taking on this mantle of fatherhood. There are no perfect fathers, just as there are no perfect mothers, but I think you guys are all up there at the very top of the fatherhood pyramid.

This young, good looking man is my father who is now well into his 90th year. Last week he went into hospice care as he is getting ready to graduate and take the big journey. I love him and I honor him this day. His posterity is now over 80 plus direct descendants. The influence my father has had can now be seen in my grandchildren. That's the impact a good dad can have. If you would like to know my father better you can check out my sister's blog where she has posted a fitting and perfect tribute to a man who sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 25 years.

Happy Father's day to all these special men in my life. I'm fortunate to be on the high ground with these guys.

It's Only A Flesh Wound!

Guest blogger the Queen Vee here (Ken is recuperating and will add more to this post later, so stay tuned)!

What would a cancer blog be without a good gory picture every now and again? This is a shot of Ken's neck post-surgery. We are now affectionately calling him "Frankeneck". For those of us who are related to him, it's "Frankenken", "Frankendaddy" or "Frankenpapa".

I'm having flashbacks to the 5oo carpet staples I removed by hand from the staircase in our entry foyer last year. I've been assured it will be much easier to get Ken's staples out next Tuesday.

The surgery and pathology results were completely terrific! Dr. Markwell the ENT surgeon over Ken's case decided to try for a "Super Selective Neck Dissection" rather than the "Radical Neck Dissection" which had been originally planned. The "Super Selective" route, if successful, would keep Ken from losing neck mobility and more importantly, allow him to still play golf. The doctors feared the treated lymph node would be difficult to find, but as soon as they opened the neck, it "popped right up" (their words). This miracle prevented damage to the trapezius (sp?) nerve in the neck. Other lymph packets were removed with no difficulty due to ease of access - which was a surprise to the doctors. The best news of all is that post-surgery pathology reports show all tissue is free of cancer.

Dr. Markwell feels that Ken's successful response to all the treatments and the positive outcome of his surgery have greatly increased his cure rate. There is no doubt in our minds that the prayers of so many people worked together to help bring us this miracle. We are so grateful.

As you can imagine, we are all doing a big happy dance out here in Virginia! Won't you join along?

Kernal ken here now folks.  Just wanted to add thanks to the Queen and Samantha for filling you in on the details of this week's happenings.  I really didn't know much about what happened because most if it was told to me while I was still halfway home from Lala land.

Special thanks this week to my great surgeons, both of whom have some sort of connection to Staples.  I stopped by on the way home to see if the local store needed a poster child, but all I got was a grimace and a not very pleasant "Eeeeww, ugh."

I also want to thank the folks on NNMC Surgical Ward 5East.  Navy Ensign K. McDonald, and Army SP4s T. Patton and M. Buckley were extremely competent nurses who had great senses of humor.  Patton served in Iraq as a medic with the 101st Airborne and Buckley was an Army MP who served with the 1st Marine Division during the horrorific battle of Fallujah several years ago.  Hearing their war stories and sharing a few of my own was an inspiration for me and the best form of healing.  These young people are very special Americans who will be the future leaders of this Country.  I am thankful for their care and help in my case and for their service to our Nation. 

The high ground is getting closer.  I'll see you there!

D is for Dunce and for D-Day

  

Last post,

"Knock 'em dead?"

I was toast;

Few read.

Lesson learned,

Be concise;

Elsewise spurned -

Not nice...

Keep it brief,

Make it charming.

Bears bring grief

And so does warming.

In a rut

Come Monday;

My neck cut.

Please pray.

With relief

To reach high ground

I'll be real brief

Next time around.

Today is also the 64th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy Invasion.  

While Omaha Beach rightly receives most attention due to casualties, the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc achieved a feat of arms almost unparalleled in military history.

Of the 225 members of the 2d Ranger Battalion who, under fire with grenades dropping on them from above, scaled the 100 foot high cliffs between Omaha and Utah Beaches, only 50 remained fit to fight two days later.

Although the coastal guns they sought were not in the fortifications on the cliffs, the Rangers found and destroyed the guns, thus completing their mission.

High Ground.  The Greatest Generation, indeed.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

I'm sorry that this post is not on my normal Friday schedule, but there were circumstances beyond my control.

My neighbor was having a sprinkler system installed in his yard, when the company doing the work cut my FIOS cable.

Verizon had been out to mark the cable locations, but only marked his and not mine which also runs through his yard.

The workers all agreed in Spanish that they would just tie my cable back together and rebury it.  When I noted that the cables were all fiber optics and probably wouldn't work simply tied together, we all agreed that Verizon needed to be called.

They'll be here tomorrow, maybe...  In the meantime, I have tapped into my neighbor's wireless network which is close enough that I can get pretty good reception.  So, better late than never!

This week I want to write about polar bears.  Cancer can wait...

When we lived in Heidelberg, young Matt (30 years old tomorrow!) insisted that, since I had earlier taken his older brother and sister to the circus, he deserved to go as well.  So, he and I went to Circus Krone.  One of the circus rings had a cage around it and was dedicated to the wild animals and their trainers.  They had lions, tigers, bears, leopards, a panther, and other assorted critters.  All were in the cage at once with a trainer or two, but then all were led out together.  

Why?  Because the single Circus Krone polar bear was going to enter the ring.  The announcer told us that the  other animals had to leave because the one polar bear would likely kill them all and begin eating them before we could react.  Wow!  When the one polar bear entered the cage, his trainer stayed outside.  The bear was at least twice the size of any other animal except the elephants and it was actively trying to break down the walls of the cage to come out and eat all of us.  The small children were terrified.  I have never seen such a vicious creature.

Fast forward to 17 May 2008, when, under pressure to make an immediate decision by a Federal judge, the Interior Department declared the polar bear to be "threatened," the first step enroute to becoming an "endangered species."  

It seems that most agree that the sea ice floating around in the Arctic Ocean is diminishing faster than usual and that polar bears need the sea ice to float out to where the seals are that make up breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

No argument that the ice is melting - but lots of argument as to why and to the degree that humans are the cause of this latest example of the dreaded "global warming."

Those who argue that human production of CO2 is the cause carefully ignore several pertinent facts:

1.  Although CO2 is a human produced greenhouse gas, by far the largest amount of CO2 comes from volcanic eruptions in and around the Pacific rim.

2.  Even more to the point, the single largest greenhouse gas contributor to global warming is water vapor, H2O, which accounts for more than 99% of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.  Humans produce almost no water vapor; God has provided it in the form of clouds.  

If ALL, repeat ALL, human production of CO2 were to cease, that would produce a reduction of 0.117 % of greenhouse gasses.  That 1/8 of one percent reduction of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere would have NO MEASURABLE IMPACT on the temperature of the Earth or its atmosphere, but it would have AN ENORMOUS IMPACT on the economies of every nation on the planet.  Economic growth and the development of Third and Fourth world countries would essentially cease, while developed economies could not turn to clean nuclear energy immediately, or EVER if the Al Gore crowd and the eco-fascists have their way.

3.  Finally, it is "an inconvenient truth" for the greenie crowd to note that, while Arctic ice may be receding, Antarctic ice packs are actually growing!  To admit this might open the argument to the fact that the Earth periodically "wobbles" on its axis, placing one pole or the other closer to the Sun.  Since the Earth's orbit around the Sun is elliptical, not circular, it would also be "inconvenient" to note that sometimes the Earth is warmer than other times and that the Sun does not burn at a constant temperature.  Earth's orbital mechanics and Solar activity are widely agreed to have much more impact on our planet's temperature that all of the greenhouse gasses, to include the 1/8 of one percent of CO2 that we produce.

Back to the polar bears.  Despite the loss of some of their ice, they are not drowning.  Polar bears can swim for more than 50 miles at a time.  The very few polar bears found dead in Arctic waters have been hit by passing vessels, and big ones at that.  Smaller vessels would have been attacked by the bears who have no fear of humans.

The polar bear is the single largest predator on land.  Adult males weigh from 775 to more than 1500 pounds, and average between 8-10 feet in length.  They hunt by stealth, using their natural camouflage.  No human being not armed with a high powered rifle has ever survived an encounter with a polar bear.  Below is a picture of polar bears trying to figure out how to come aboard the USS Honolulu, a nuclear submarine, since they can smell the fact that some sort of food is perhaps inside...

Two years ago, an Eskimo hunting guide spotted an unusual bear while with his party.  The animal was killed and discovered to be grizzly-polar bear hybrid.  Very unusual, since polar bears usually kill and eat grizzlies whenever they meet.  But evidence that polar bears can come away from the Arctic ice when they perceive a need.  Lately, some Eskimo communities have reported unusual sightings of polar bears near their garbage collection areas and whaling factories.  They have asked for permission to increase the number of polar bears they can kill to protect their own population.

There are 19 known polar bear sub-populations totally over 25,000 estimated bears.  Of those populations, five are declining, five are stable, two are increasing and seven have insufficient data.  The polar bears in North America are among the stable and increasing populations.  With over 25,000 estimated bears, the polar bear has become the first critter ever to become "threatened" while being part of such a large number.

So, should we be concerned?  You bet!  But not for the polar bear... for HUMANS who may come into contact with polar bears who have decided to head south for the summer, winter or whatever season.  By declaring polar bears "threatened," the number who may be killed by legitimate hunters must decrease.  But, perhaps even worse, any business in the United States that wants to build a new factory, in any state, will be subject to  lawsuits by the envirocrazy crowd which will claim that human creation of additional CO2 will drive the polar bear from "threatened" to "endangered."  Doesn't matter where you live or work, polar bears - which are slowly moving south to devour you and yours - will become the ecological albatross around your neck to protect. That 1/8th of one percent of human produced CO2 has got be reduced!  Prince Charles and Al Gore insist!  No matter that 35,000 US scientists, many with PhDs and all with degrees in the sciences, not in politics, have signed a petition stating that the science of "global warming" is not "settled" as has been asserted.

Well, we reintroduced the wolves in Yellowstone and now the coyotes and cougars are heading east to escape.  We now have coyotes in Virginia for the first time since Daniel Boone crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains!  A cougar was shot last week in downtown Chicago.

The polar bears, yet another example of the law of Unintended Consequences, will soon be headed your way as well.  And they won't have bright holiday scarves around their necks and be drinking Coke...

Get to the high ground!  I'll see you there...

 

Each Day Is Precious - Live It Fully!

One of the things that having cancer does for you is to make you very aware of how fragile life is and how quickly things can change.  Experts call it "the Damocles Syndrome."  You'll have to Google the story of the sword of Damocles to fully appreciate that title.

Last year's Thanksgiving was great, but by the time Christmas rolled around, there was a serious question as to how long I had to live.  Although all the tests and scans thus far are positive, that existential question has yet to be resolved.  The same, but in a much more urgent sense, for Senator Ted Kennedy, diagnosed this week with a malignant brain tumor.  His life expectations range from months to a few years.  I was glad to see that he returned to Hyannis Port and went sailing with his family.  A weaker person would have withdrawn in depression, anger, and sorrow.

Or take, for example, the destitute people of Burma, hit by Cyclone Nargis in the past two weeks.  One day, they were barely subsisting under the cruel hand of a military thugocracy; the next, what little they had was wiped out by wind and flooding.  The junta reports 133,000 dead or missing at this point, but given their penchant for secrecy, the total is likely much higher.  They also report 2.5 million homeless.  And yet they refuse to allow the U.S. Navy ships off their coast to fly in food, medicine and temporary shelter.  Appalling is too weak a term for their behavior towards their own people.

Then there is China, set for a splendid August Olympics, only to become the victim of a massive earthquake in Sichuan Province.  The Chinese government behavior is miles ahead of the Burmese, but they too are having difficulty accepting help from other nations when the Party is supposed to be all that the Chinese People need.

Latest figures from China are 55,239 dead found so far, more than 29,000 missing, over 288,000 injured and at least 5 Million homeless.  There is no history of philanthropy in China, so donations from outside are seen as somewhat alien.

And finally, there is the family of our nephew and niece, Phil and Lori Zenger and their four children, who live in Windsor, Colorado.  Today, they were set to depart on their first real vacation, driving the three oldest children to Disneyland for their initial visit, while Grandma Linda watched 18 month old Matthew.  The only problem was that yesterday came before today.

Look back at the weather map at the top of this post.  The junction of those two fronts is Windsor.  As you may have heard, a category F3 tornado hit Windsor yesterday, shortly after noon.  Phil was working in the basement of their ranch-style home and the baby was on the main floor, taking a nap.  When Phil heard loud noise, he went upstairs to find winds of 150+ MPH and golfball-sized hail at his doorstep.  As he grabbed the baby and raced back into the basement, his home was being systematically crushed by the force of the tornado.  Phil and the baby sought shelter in an interior room, with Phil on his knees, praying that it not be his or the baby's time to die.  They survived without injury.  Other family members were safe in school or out of the neighborhood.

After the huge tornado passed, Phil went out into the street to find his house with no roof, his windows all blown out, his vehicles crushed by parts of the collapsed house and his neighborhood destroyed.  They have been evacuated from the area and will not be allowed back in until sometime Saturday, when they will begin the task of sorting through the wreckage to find what is salvageable and what has "gone with the wind" or been made unusable by crushing, hail and water.  Family, to include Zengers, Carlsons, Wilkinsons and Nelsons, along with Church members will help, once allowed into the area.  Below is a picture from the neighborhood.

We intend to help in other ways as well.  For example, we are determined that Phil, Lori and family should be able to take that vacation to Disneyland sometime this year.  And rather than have to drive two days either way, we intend to fly them there and get them a rental car.  Those kids deserve to see the Mouse after all they will go though...  

So, dear readers, every single day of your life is precious and needs to be lived to the fullest.  I am reminded of a few selected verses from the poem  by the 18th Century English poet, William Cowper:

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,

The clouds ye so much dread

    Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

 But trust Him for His grace;

 Behind a frowning providence

 He hides a smiling face.

  His purposes will ripen fast,

  Unfolding every hour;

  The bud may have a bitter taste,

  But sweet will be the flower.

   Blind unbelief is sure to err,

   And scan His work in vain;

   God is His own interpreter,

   And he will make it plain.

Please offer a prayer for all those whose need is great at this time.

I'll see you on the high ground!