The Biggest Week in American Birding

Composed and posted on May 11, 2015

My significant other was in Ohio this past weekend participating in what is described as the Biggest Week in American Birding.  You can read about it at 

http://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/

Just out of curiosity, has any one else become fascinated with this particular endeavor.  Based upon the report I received, it appears to be a quite passionate pursuit ... and one that can be aesthetically pleasing.  Comments, anyone?

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

The Wonders of Golf

Composed and posted on May 5, 2015

Once upon a time, I would never have thought that you would find me at a golf tournament, but once upon a time is not now, and in one of those rather fortunate occurrences that occurs in life, last week I found myself not just attending one tournament, but two.

On Sunday, April 28, I went to the Swinging Skirts Golf Tournament that was held at Lake Merced Golf Course in Daly City (just south of San Francisco).  At that tournament, I found myself walking with the crowd for nine holes as I watched the teenage phenom Lydia Ko win her second Swinging Skirts title.  Lydia Ko turned 18 the week of the tournament and while the Swinging Skirts championship is not her coming out party, it certainly was a party for her nonetheless.  She birdied the 18th hole on the last day to get into a playoff and then birdied the same hole again to win the playoff.  For such a young age, she is a marvel of consistency and touch.  I saw quite clearly on that day why she is the No. 1 Women's Golfer in the world.

The bookend to my week of watching golf came on Saturday, May 2, when I went to the World Golf Championship Cadillac Match Play Tournament at Harding Park in San Francisco.  On that somewhat chilly Saturday afternoon, I found myself accompanying Rory McIlroy on a seemingly never ending excursion around the golf course as he engaged in a duel into the darkness with Paul Casey.  I walked 21 holes that afternoon and evening and I am still sore from it.  However, Rory had walked 18 holes before I even arrived at the course to win his quarterfinal match so that he could play Casey.  And because the contest was stopped by darkness, Rory had to get up at 6:45 am the next morning to finish the match before going on to play two more 18 hole contests to secure the cup.  Rory, the world's No. 1 golfer, was not his best on Saturday, but even when not at his best, he is better than most.  By coincidence, Rory also had a birthday the same week that the tournament concluded and he made history by winning his 10th PGA Tour event before his 26th birthday, something only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have ever achieved.

It was indeed a marvelous week of golf here in the Bay Area.  But what it was not just the golf but the individuals that won that made me think about how wonderful golf can be.  It is a wonder because despite all that has been written and said about Millennials, the two Millennials that I followed last week gave me reassurance that, if these two representatives are any indication, this generation can be a great one.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Only Those Who Have Felt the Knife

Composed and posted on April 15, 2015

While I was on my Baseball Pilgrimage, my Zen calendar had the following quote for April 8, 2015:

"Only those who have felt the knife 

Can understand the wound,

Only the jeweler
Knows the nature of the jewel."

Mirabai

I read that quote upon arriving at work today and I was moved by it.  I later looked up Mirabai and found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabai_Devi

Interesting.

Peace, 

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Cooperstown

Composed and posted on April 15, 2015

Mission accomplished.  The Baseball Hajj has been done.  Arrived in Pittsfield (site of the first collegiate baseball game in which Amherst beat Williams 73-32 in 1859) on Tuesday, April 7.  The next day I drove to Cooperstown where one of my classmates from the Class of 1975 now lives.  For those not familiar with where Cooperstown is, it is really in the rural part of New York far from the bright lights of the cities where the game is played today.   My Cooperstown classmate, who I suspect I may have only said, at most, two sentences to over the last 45 years, graciously took me out to lunch and enlightened me about his life over the last few decades and his relatively new arrival in the bucolic village of Cooperstown.  He then surprised me by using his annual membership benefits to get me into the Hall of Fame for free.  What a pleasant way to begin the Pilgrimage!  

The Hall was more than I expected it would be.  Reading all the plaques could probably take all day by itself.  But when you add in the exhibits... well, it is just not feasible to enjoy all the Hall has to offer in just one day, let alone the two hours I had.   Nevertheless, I did read many of the plaques focusing most on the players that I knew.   After my two hours ended and the museum had closed, I ventured over to the nearby Doubleday Field where if you listen carefully you can hear the voices of those enshrined nearby.. those honored players who continue to play the game they came to love.  Sometimes a field of dreams can also become a field of souls.

I then walked over to the house of my Cooperstown classmate.  He invited me in for a brief tour of his home.  I thanked him for the lunch and for the museum treat and invited him to visit me next time he is in Northern California.  Leaving Cooperstown, I could only reflect that it should not have taken 44 years to get to know one another, but it was better to have finally gotten to know each other a little bit than to have never known each other at all.  

Thank you, my friend.  I look forward to seeing you again ... soon.

Peace, 

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

________________________________________________________________________________________

Composed and posted on February 10, 2015

As chance would have it, this year's Black Alumni Weekend ends the day before the Boston Red Sox have their home opener against the Washington Nationals.  As part of my activities associated with attending the Black Alumni Weekend, it is my plan to do a Baseball Pilgrimage.  I will be staying in Pittsfield, the town that claims to have a document from 1791 that references a game called "baseball". Strange because, according to some, baseball was not invented until 1839 by Abner Doubleday.    

While staying in Pittsfield, I plan on taking a pilgrimage to Cooperstown, New York, to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have longed to see the Baseball Hall of Fame and I especially want to see the exhibits of the only two brothers that are currently enshrined there.  Do any of you know who they are?  Most don't, but I do.

After the pilgrimage to Cooperstown, I will concentrate on Amherst activities, including visiting the Amherst Golf Course to maybe play a round with some fellow Black Alumni attendees and to discuss the Class of 1975 golf outing slated for late May.  Of course, I am also hopeful of once again leading the Sunday morning memorial ceremony in the Gerald Penny Cultural Center to honor those Black alumni, students and staff who have left their footprints on Amherst's hallowed fields.  But even if I am there alone, a memorial shall be held.

After the Sunday session, I plan on returning to Boston and I tentatively would like to end my Baseball Pilgrimage by attending the Boston Red Sox season opener.  

The question I have is where would you recommend that I sit in order to get a good view in Fenway Park?  This is likely to be my one and only visit to Fenway.  How might I maximize my viewing experience without unduly damaging my government funded wallet?

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

The Mary Lasker Conundrum

Composed and posted on April 1, 2015

One of the more compelling personalities profiled in Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies is the anti-cancer crusader Mary Lasker.  You can read about her at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Lasker

In reading about Mary Lasker, I was caught by the conflict inherent in her story.  The conflict lies in the fact that the funds used in part to fund the medical research sponsored by the Lasker Foundation was based upon money the advertising executive Edward Lasker obtained from his tobacco industry clients. In essence, because of Edward Lasker's success, millions of people took up smoking and perhaps millions of Americans died from cancer.  But on the other hand, because of the research funded by the Lasker Foundation, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, have had their cancers cured and as is noted in the Wikipedia article:

" Eighty-one Lasker laureates have gone on to received a  Nobel Prize."

The questions posed are: "Do the research advances funded by the Lasker Foundation outweigh the deaths that may be attributable to the successful advertising campaigns from which the funds for the Lasker Foundation are derived?"  "On what kind of scale, does one weigh the lives of the many of today and yesterday against the promise of the lives of tomorrow?"

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

________________________________________________________________________________________

Episode 1 of Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies aired last night.  If you missed it, you can see it at 

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365450686/

So far the series appears to be a history of science documentary intertwined with real life stories of real life patients.  It is, like almost all of Ken Burns' documentaries, very well done.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, 60 Minutes aired a segment called "Killing Cancer" this past Sunday which was more than just well done ... it was amazing.  You can see the segment at

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/

The amazing aspect of this story is the use of one scourge (polio) to fight another (cancer).  

There are an endless number of wonders in this world of ours.  I hope you are enjoying one of them yourself today.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

________________________________________________________________________________________

I have long been a fan of our fellow Pioneer Valley alum, Ken Burns, the documentarian who is arguably America's most famous historian.  Next week, Ken Burns latest documentary project will be aired.  Entitled Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, the show promises to be a very informative program into the scourge that seems to touch so many of us and our families.  Accordingly, I highly recommend that those who can, do tune into your local PBS station and watch with me Cancer: The Emperor  of All Maladies.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

P.S. You can read more about the series at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-ca-cancer-20150329-story.html#page=2

Yosef ben Jochannan, R. I. P.

Composed and posted on April 1, 2015

I read the obituary for Yosef ben Jochannan last night.  It calls him a Father of African Studies while at the same time undermining his credibility as a historian.   I wonder if any one out there knew Yosef ben Jochannan and can speak to his legacy.  Also, the questions I pose to everyone are: "If it is true that Yosef ben Jochannan exaggerated some historical facts, does it matter?"  and "Which is the greater sin exaggerating some historical facts for an Afrocentric perspective or omitting whole sections of historical facts that do not fit into a Eurocentric perspective?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/nyregion/contested-legacy-of-dr-ben-a-father-of-african-studies.html?_r=0

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Magic Bullets

Composed and posted on March 31, 2015

Episode 1 of Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies aired last night.  If you missed it, you can see it at 

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365450686/

So far the series appears to be a history of science documentary intertwined with real life stories of real life patients.  It is, like almost all of Ken Burns' documentaries, very well done.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, 60 Minutes aired a segment called "Killing Cancer" this past Sunday which was more than just well done ... it was amazing.  You can see the segment at

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/

The amazing aspect of this story is the use of one scourge (polio) to fight another (cancer).  

There are an endless number of wonders in this world of ours.  I hope you are enjoying one of them yourself today.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

________________________________________________________________________________________

I have long been a fan of our fellow Pioneer Valley alum, Ken Burns, the documentarian who is arguably America's most famous historian.  Next week, Ken Burns latest documentary project will be aired.  Entitled Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, the show promises to be a very informative program into the scourge that seems to touch so many of us and our families.  Accordingly, I highly recommend that those who can, do tune into your local PBS station and watch with me Cancer: The Emperor  of All Maladies.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975

P.S. You can read more about the series at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-ca-cancer-20150329-story.html#page=2