Iowa – Page 6 – Go Retire Psychiatrist

Will Iowans Get the Whole Enchilada with The Upcoming Total Solar Eclipse?

So, are Iowans going to get “the whole enchilada” when it comes to seeing the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024? No, but we’ll see a partial eclipse. The T-shirt Sena got for me says “Total Eclipse” on it—but it also has extraterrestrials on it, which I really like.

The paths of these total eclipses are narrow. The path of the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017 would not have been visible in the totality phase for Iowans either. So, no whole enchilada then either.

In fact, I don’t remember the 2017 solar eclipse at all. Sena watched it on TV when CNN televised a special program about it. She noticed that it got dark, probably in the early afternoon. I don’t know what I was doing, but I was no doubt running around the hospital responding to psychiatry consultation requests. I probably wouldn’t have noticed a gigantic enchilada stalking the earth.

In fact, to see a total eclipse back then and next month, we’d have to drive to Carbondale, Illinois. That’s at least a 6-hour drive and probably longer since a lot of people would be on the road with the same goal. There are already warnings from some officials about traffic jams, cell phone problems, and other disasters which can happen during the mad rush to see the whole enchilada.

Which brings me to the question: do you know the origin of the phrase “the whole enchilada”?

I guess the history of the expression is a little dark, in a manner of speaking. Some people don’t define it and bail by comparing it to other similar phrases like “the whole nine yards” or whatever. On the other hand, there are variations on another story of the origin that date back to the Watergate tapes scandal in the era of President Nixon’s administration in the 1970s. Supposedly, John Ehrlichmann called Attorney John N. Mitchell “the big enchilada.”

In general, it means the whole thing, the entirety, everything. So, if we want to see the whole enchilada as far as the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, we’d have to drive 6 hours to either Carbondale, Illinois or Poplar Bluff, Missouri. We’ll pass on that.

However, Sena did make the whole enchilada last night for dinner.

Getting Ready for the Solar Eclipse!

Sena has placed the order for our eclipse glasses and eclipse T-shirts. They should get here in plenty of time for the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. And if the weather is really crappy that day—we have 30 days to return them.

There is an interesting history of eclipses on the NASA website. It mentions how Einstein hypothesized that gravity warped space and time, distorting the universe. The sun is big enough that its gravity could bend light. In fact, during the eclipse on May 29, 1919, scientists noted that some stars were in the wrong place, proving Einstein’s theory.

And now for some eclipse jokes:

What do you call it when you fall in love on April 8, 2024? A total eclipse of the heart.

What will the moon bring to the beach on April 8, 2024? Sunblock.

Jupiter to the moon on April 8, 2024: Do you remember the sun?

Moon: No, I blocked it out.

Sena: How do you organize a solar eclipse party?

Jim: I don’t know. How?

Sena: You planet!

An interesting Iowa history story is about the solar eclipse of 1869. Several small markers were placed in various locations to mark the event. Many were lost. They were plowed out or covered up. The author mentions the upcoming 2024 solar eclipse and wonders if anyone will leave markers to remember it.

I think what some may leave behind are tattered eclipse glasses and cheeseburger wrappers. But we’ll have our memories to pass on in stories, pictures, and dad jokes—a living monument.

African American Women in Iowa History

In light of March being Women in History Month (as well as Iowa History Month), I’d like to share some history stories about an African American librarian from Mason City, Iowa named Esther J. Walls. In 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was an essay about her, “Esther J. Walls: The Role of a Black Leader.” Her life story as a librarian, traveler, and educator is fascinating.

I looked through the list of women elected to the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame and couldn’t find her name. However, I recognized Deborah Ann Turner’s name on the list. She was the first African American woman to be certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in gynecologic oncology. She was also from Mason City, Iowa. Her life story and list of accomplishments is also impressive.

I identify with both of them because they were born and raised in my hometown, Mason City, Iowa. Esther J. Walls was employed at the Mason City Public Library, my favorite haunt because my love of reading and writing began in early childhood.

An archived news item about Esther J. Walls entitled “A Mason City woman’s globe-trotting career” highlights her travels and her sense of humor.

CDC ACIP Meeting on the RSV Vaccine and Some Dad Jokes

We watched the section of the CDC ACIP meeting about RSV vaccines on February 29, 2024. There was a lot of discussion on the safety of the vaccine. It looks like it will still have a requirement that you have a shared clinical decision-making meeting with your physician. I think that still implies you’d need a prescription. However, there are only a handful of states which would require a prescription from your doctor. Iowa is one of them.

That made the comment by one of the committee participants thought provoking. I believe she got the RSV vaccine from a pharmacist, who asked no questions. There was no shared clinical decision-making discussion with that pharmacist.

But there was a discussion during the meeting with a pharmacist who was in the room. She made it clear that pharmacists had plenty of training (“20 hours” along with additional learning) and could handle the shared clinical decision-making piece with patients.

Sena and I have had all of our vaccines including the Covid-19 shots administered by pharmacy techs. I hardly know what the pharmacists look like because they are a blur, managing the drive-up window and all other customers. It’s clear that a large proportion of vaccines are available at most pharmacies and the techs give the shots. They are pleasant and happy to apply the Band-Aid.

You can’t even telephone the pharmacy and talk to a live person. Sometimes you’ll get a recording which replies to most of your questions with “Sorry, I didn’t get that. Did you say you want a vaccine or a cheeseburger with fries?” Scheduling vaccine appointments are generally done on line. Scheduling a visit with the pharmacist is probably not easier than scheduling one with your doctor, who might confuse you with “the colonoscopy” in room 5.

I’ve looked at the health care professional section on the CDC website pertaining to the age and medical conditions necessary to qualify for getting the RSV vaccine. I’m pretty sure I’m in the right age category, although I stopped keeping track after the evolution of asparagus. I don’t have any chronic medical conditions, unless you count dad jokes. I exercise, juggle, take only a multivitamin a day, meditate, and regularly leap tall buildings in a single bound. I’m pretty sure I don’t need the RSV vaccine, but what do I know? I’m a retired psychiatrist.

It looks like the risk of getting Guillain-Barre Syndrome (pronounced “GBS”) is not zero and may or may not be associated with the RSV vaccine. It’s pretty clear that 2 of the 3 major manufacturers of the vaccine who attended the meeting were pretty sensitive to any hints their product might have anything to do with GBS and might challenge you to a no holds barred thumb wrestling match if you say otherwise.

We think there’s a long way to go before everybody’s clear on who gets the RSV vaccine and when, and also where. But you can’t get it at the pharmacy drive up window.

Flight of Ideas on Junior Bald Eagles

A couple of days ago the temperature was in the mid-seventies, which is pretty balmy for February. We took the opportunity to get out for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail. It’s coincidental, but we did the same thing on the exact same date last February. It’s under the same condition for the most part—escaping from the bad news on the web. The difference was the temperature; it was only in the fifties last year.

The remarkable thing last February was that another trail walker claimed to have seen 16 bald eagles. I’ll have to say that we doubted it, at first. But shortly after that, we caught sight of half a dozen. There were also the quilted hearts we saw, connected to the “I Found a Quilted Heart” project, the goal of which is to make you happy.

This time, although we didn’t find any quilted hearts, we saw a young bald eagle in flight. It was a little hard to tell what it was at first. Bald eagles don’t look bald when they’re in the juvenile stage. I had to look it up. Juveniles look pretty mottled. I wondered if its parents were the bald eagle pair, which we saw at Trueblood in December of 2023. Probably not, given that nesting begins in January, incubation lasts over a month and the eaglets take their first flight over two months later, according to the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources. But it’s fun to think about.

This junior bald eagle looked a little clumsy, both in the air and near the water’s edge. It looked like it might have caught a little fish. It seemed like it was trying to learn how things work in the world and how it’s supposed to fit in.

Instinct takes care of most of that for a bald eagle. Humans have a lot of figuring out to do. We ran into somebody on the trail who told us a great deal about local history. Over time, a lot of things have changed in Iowa City. That goes for the world, too. Much of the time, the changes don’t always seem to make life better, at least according to older people who talk about them.

But the seasons come and go. Bald eagles lay eggs. Eaglets fledge. They don’t gaze up at the moon. Humans do look up at the moon, and occasionally fly there. It’s hard to know why.

There are plenty of earthly mysteries. We saw small black handprints on the Trueblood sidewalk, not far from the shelter. I can’t figure out why they would be there, and what’s more, I can’t find out anything on the internet that explains it. So much for the internet. I supposed I could take a chance and ask Artificial Intelligence (AI) about it, but I’m not confident it wouldn’t just make something up.

We also found a little badge on the ground. It was labeled National Museum USAF Junior Flight Crew. This time, when I checked the internet, I found out there is a lot of information about it on the internet—but none of it helped me understand why it would be on the ground along the Terry Trueblood Trail. You can find a very long article on the internet about how items from the National Museum USAF might not have been handled the way they should have been. You can buy one for about $20 or so on eBay, if you’re interested.

I think it’s more interesting to see how the junior bald eagles learn their way around the world. They earn their wings the old-fashioned way.

Update on the Mason City, Iowa YWCA Renovation and How That Connects to Pizza

This is an update on a couple of Mason City, Iowa YWCA and YMCA renovation posts I wrote in May of 2022 (May 12 and May 25). I’m also going to compare the information about those with recent news about the building which is home to Pagliai’s Pizza.

Recall that the YMCA in Mason City was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It was built in 1926. It was also converted into an affordable apartment housing resource. When I was a young man, I used to live in the dormitory. And if you must know, that was in the days of the Pony Express.

And the YWCA in Mason City was built in 1918, well before the YMCA. Yet it is still not on the historic register, which is puzzling. It sat empty for many years before a couple of artists (2 Artists) bought it in 2021. They are trying to renovate the building with some assistance from the city, and their own fund-raising campaign which includes a GoFundMe and other efforts. They plan to use it as a resource for artists, eventually to include studios, apartments, and art shows. The city has received a grant to convert part of the building into apartments.

The State Historical Society of Iowa told me that the YWCA has been deemed eligible twice for nomination (in 1991 and in 2003, which was a year after the YMCA was added to the list). Yet the YWCA has never been nominated. I ended up calling this a mystery in history. It’s true it was neglected for years and renovation is expensive. The nomination process is long and very involved.

A recent, brief local newspaper article indicates that the renovations are still underway, but there is still no mention of trying to get it added to the historic register.

How does that connect to the current news about the building that houses Pagliai’s Pizza? The owner wants to sell the building. However, the building has been there since the 1870s and the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission has decided along with many others that it belongs on the city’s list of historic landmarks.

The building used to house a dance hall, a grocery store, and a bohemian restaurant. It has been home for Pagliai’s Pizza since 1957. It’s a local favorite; Sena and I have enjoyed pizza there on several occasions.

The owner has misgivings about designating the building a historic landmark as it might hurt its marketability. Nevertheless, the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission legally decided to recommend it for landmarking. It will be voted on by the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission, although it’s not clear exactly when. The owner of the building is not the same person who runs the pizza place—he signed a lease through 2030 and beyond if possible.

My question is if Iowa City can insist on adding a building to the historic register (in a way overriding the owner), why has it never been done for the Mason City YWCA? There is at least as much culturally significant history linked to it as there is with the Iowa City property.

I’m not savvy enough about the intricacies of city planning to figure this one out. So, it remains a mystery in history to me.

Preliminary Thoughts on “Our Hidden Conversations” Book

This is a short post about my initial impressions about the book, “Our Hidden Conversation” by Michele Norris.

I’m not finished with the book yet, but I thought I would let you know that the first chapter, “Bread Crumbs” was tough to read. I had to put it down and come back to it a few times because it brought back memories.

The chapter title “Bread Crumbs” means the clues that parents, grandparents, etc. might leave for subsequent generations to find which might shed light on one’s background, explain troubling circumstances, and so on.

I have some bread crumbs left to me by my family. Some are in the form of photos, although there is no family photo of all of us together.

I remember the hair combing routine my mom had with me and my brother every Sunday morning before church when we were kids. Our father was black and my mother was white. Dad was out of the home and we lived with mom. We were the only black kids in the church. In fact, all the members were white.

Mom used a prodigious amount of hair oil while vigorously combing our curly hair back. It took many strokes and the pulling pinched a bit. The ritual took a little while. When I look back on it, I guess the goal was to straighten our hair as much as possible.

Everyone in the church always treated us kindly and I was baptized there.

If you decide to read “Our Hidden Conversations,” give yourself a break whenever you feel like you need it.

Sweethearts on a February Stroll

Yesterday, we went out for a walk because it was a pretty nice day for February. All the snow was pretty much gone. We saw a hawk who also saw us. We approached the tree it was perched in very slowly. It tolerated our attention until we got too close for comfort—and flapped off in a huff.

It was a nice enough day to walk all the way out to the Sitting Man and beyond. Others were out taking in the sun as well. It’s good to do simple things; things like walking in the sun, drinking iced coffee, eating zucchini bread, waving at UFOs.

You know how it is.

How About That Rad Composer and Bird Watcher Antonin Dvorak?

I thought I would share a couple of ideas about the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. I’m not a music expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy listening to classical music on the Music Choice Classical Masterpieces channel.

Music Choice always have interesting bits of biographical information about the musicians. The items about Dvorak are very interesting. For example, a couple of them mention that he had idiosyncrasies. One was that he stole all of the pencils at a place where he was supposed to be working because the pencils were “perfect for composing.” Another factoid is that he was fascinated with the trains in Prague and, in fact, had memorized the entire train schedule.

This makes me wonder if he was something more than eccentric and might have had some form of autism spectrum disorder (formerly Asperger’s Syndrome). On the other hand, I’ve always been a little suspicious of the Music Choice channel’s little biographical blurbs. I couldn’t verify from a quick internet search whether or not he had the disorder or not—and probably he didn’t.

On the other hand, Dvorak did visit Spillville, Iowa during the summer of 1893. There’s a short video which tells about his visit. One of the images shows a picture of a scarlet tanager, and the voice over mentions that Dvorak was often inspired by birdsong. In fact, there is an online reference to an anecdote about Dvorak basing one of his compositions, String Quartet in F major (op. 96, the ‘American’), on the song of a bird.

There was some controversy about whether it was more likely he based it on the song of the red-eyed vireo or that of a scarlet tanager. But after an extremely long article, the authors of the reference conclude that Dvorak’s composition was based on the song of the red-eyed vireo, which doesn’t resemble a scarlet tanager at all (McKone MJ, Beccue DA. The Iowa Bird That Inspired Antonín Dvořák’s American String Quartet in 1893: Controversy over the Species’ Identity and Why It Matters. Nineteenth-Century Music Review. 2021;18(3):521-537. doi:10.1017/S1479409820000282).

I’m an amateur bird-watcher and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard or seen a red-eyed vireo. I have seen a scarlet tanager but I can’t remember what its song sounds like. I’m pretty sure Dvorak didn’t mistake either bird’s song with the well-known howl of Bigfoot, who may have been sneaking around Spillville, hunting for beef jerky.

Let’s see Music Choice channel try to add that to the anecdotes about Dvorak.