Brilliant Perspectives for the Transgender Debate

Recent times have brought transgenderism to the forefront.  Conversation has been sparked when President Obama issued his "Dear Colleagues" letter, and when that was rescinded by the Trump administration, which also recently banned transgender individuals from serving in the US military.

With all the talk, I'm pleased that Family Policy Alliance has been offering its perspective to the discussion with its Ask Me First campaign.  Part of its effort is sharing the stories of how women are being affected by the push to allow males who identify as females to have access to women's facilities.

The website has a few videos sharing these perspectives, and there are two I find particularly brilliant.  They are short videos, about 2-3 minutes long, and you can access them in links I've provided in the following paragraphs, or view the embedded videos in this post.

One video features Kara Dansky, the board chair of Women's Liberation Front (WoLF).

This self-described radical feminist group, extraordinarily, partnered with Family Policy Alliance in the campaign to push back against allowing biological men to use women's facilities.  Her organization filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration because of the "Dear Colleagues" letter.  Their argument is that the reinterpretation of Title IX's provision about gender to include "gender identity" renders those protections meaningless because identity is too fluid to have any real value in protecting the rights of women and girls that so many struggled for so greatly.

Another video features Tanner, who at the time the video was made, was a high school athlete in Alaska.

Her story tells about the time during her senior year when she competed in an Alaska State Championship for high school female runners.  One of those competing was a teen male who identifies as a female, and so was allowed to participate.  Tanner describes it as being unfair from a scientific perspective because males and females are biologically different, and that's why there are separate competitions for both genders, to ensure they are kept untainted by individuals who have a different body type.  I think her perspective offers a crucial understanding of what's at stake in the debate about transgender individuals.  It's true that a person claiming he/she is a person of the opposite gender, and can even go so far as to try to alter the body to reflect that perception, not to mention engage in practices of the other gender.  Ultimately, though, the body is going to still carry with it the gender the person was born with, especially with the arrangement of X and Y chromosomes.  A person could go through physical alterations and still be left with the same gender body, especially considering the questionable effectiveness, and even the harmfulness, of such medical procedures.  So in the case of athletic competitions, competitors would find themselves competing against people with different body types who could potentially have an advantage.

By allowing individuals who perceive themselves to be of the opposite gender to continue acting so is tampering with scientific reality, especially when a person undergoes surgery and hormone treatments to alter him/herself physically.  We definitely need to support those who are experiencing gender dysphoria, but I find it too questionable to think that a person could be born with the "wrong body".  To address this situation, we need to show these individuals a measure of compassion that helps them deal with their perceptions, without unfairly causing an imbalance in the proper distinctions that are in place between female and male.

Intellectual Freedom and Opposing Values

In my experience of working in a public library, and studying about libraries in graduate school, I know that they have great power to transform their communities.  This is in large part due to a strong commitment to values of intellectual freedom, a major part of what the American Library Association's (ALA's) Library Bill of Rights is all about.  It's all about providing people access to information, and eliminating any barriers.

Intellectual freedom was the focus of a presentation at the staff engagement day at the Oak Park Public Library back in early December 2016, given by James LaRue, the director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.  The one thing that struck me about Mr. LaRue was how polished he was in his presentation, and how well he knew his material.

There were times in his talk when he addressed the transformative power of libraries in communities.  He touched on a theme from the staff day in December 2015, that we should demonstrate the library's importance to the community through stories that appeal to the heart, rather than using facts to appeal to the brain, since the toxic sociopolitical environment that has taken hold recently lessens the power of facts.  He encouraged this kind of storytelling advocacy as a way to maintain the place of the library in the community when faced with potential budget cuts from those who consider libraries an unnecessary expenditure.

He started out by saying that values drive what libraries do, and that led to the creation of the Library Bill of Rights, which is something that has been continually re-interpreted as needed throughout the years since, rather than constantly changed.

In his talk, he shared that intellectual freedom entails not only allowing access to a variety of library materials, but also allowing people to use library spaces to hold a variety of public events.  He talked about controversies surrounding presentations on Islam and the current situation in Israel, with people opposed to what they considered politically-charged events.

In further expounding upon the theme of intellectual freedom, he shared a story about the controversy over a children's book about George Washington's slave who served as his chef.  There were some people who no longer wanted the book to be printed because it made slavery look appealing.  Others felt that the book's presence was an opportunity to diversify the pool of authors, since its author was African-American.  Mr. LaRue talked about disagreements he encountered with people he worked with closely on matters of librarianship.

I feel the issue of conflicting values also applies to accessing of obscene materials in libraries, especially on the Internet.  Because the ALA is such a staunch advocate for freedom of access to information, it strongly opposes and furthermore resists any efforts to censor materials at libraries, which includes opposition to Internet filters.  That means that people are supposed to have the unfettered ability to access obscene materials at the library.

The ALA's strong stance against filters that block obscenities on public library internet service has earned it a place on the 2017 Dirty Dozen List issued by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.  This project entails an annual list of organizations that profit from or facilitate sexual exploitation, with the first annual list issued in 2013.  In every year since then, the ALA has been included.

In the face of the public health crisis that is pornography, the ALA refuses to do anything to prevent access to obscene materials on public library Internet service, like installing filters, claiming that it would erode intellectual freedom, and violate the 1st Amendment.  However, the 1st Amendment doesn't protect all forms of speech, because not all forms of speech are created equal.  Courts have ruled that obscene materials should not receive 1st Amendment protections, which is important to acknowledge given the damaging effect they have on people's minds and society as a whole.

And then there's the major concern raised by parents that children are exposed to obscene material, not only Internet pornography, but in the content of books, too:  This issue is at the heart of a campaign of citizens to remove a book called This Day in June from the collections at the West Chicago Public Library.  The book features scenes of a gay pride parade, which includes explicit sexual acts.  Kurt Jaros raised concerns about this book with the West Chicago Library Board when his 3-year-old daughter found it at the library, and it stood out to her with its colorful cover.

The campaign calls for the removal of the book from the library's collection, an act that typically makes intellectual freedom advocates cry foul.  I can understand this argument because it's a slippery slope: if one book like this one is removed, it then becomes more difficult to prevent the removal of other books.  And I recognize that in fulfilling intellectual freedom, library collections should provide materials representing a variety of viewpoints.  But in the case of this book, parents are having to face a dilemma that no parent should have to face, in having to discuss sexuality with children when a child finds a book like this with obscene material, when sexuality is really something over the heads of children.  That's why libraries should not simply be putting books like This Day in June out on the shelves for children to easily access, without doing anything to help parents who do not agree with normalizing the homosexual lifestyle.  I feel it makes sense, at the very least, for the library should put this material in a section with educational materials intended for parents.  While including such a book in the collection may give voice to homosexuals and help them feel comfortable with who they are, having it there without representation of differing viewpoints on the LGBTQ movement creates an imbalance favoring the sociopolitical left, and leaves unsupported those not in agreement with that movement, and just passes the discomfort from homosexuals to those who affirm heterosexual marriage, without actually removing it.

The reality of conflicting values makes dialogue even more important, especially when it comes to hot button issues of sexuality that are becoming ever more prevalent in recent years because the LGBTQ movement does so much to put topics of sexuality out in the open without acknowledging that small children are just not in a position to intellectually process any of it.  While public libraries are supposed to facilitate meaningful dialogue about issues, they do a poor job of dialoguing with those who express concerns, because the ALA just won't budge from its strong stance on issues of intellectual freedom.  It's time for the ALA and similarly-minded intellectual freedom advocates to acknowledge the conflicting values that exist regarding obscene materials and start up the conversations in earnest with those who are concerned about issues related to sexuality, whether it be the health crisis of pornography, or children being exposed to sexuality at too young of an age.  It's through honest conversation, based on an awareness of the conflicting values, that will put us in the right direction toward addressing the interests of all parties involved.

The Wonderful World with Libraries

With school starting in Oak Park this week, the library's summer reading program is concluding.  It has been another wonderful summer to engage the youth in Oak Park to read and have fun.  Encouragement to participate in the program was the crux of a piece in the Summer 2017 edition of The Storyline, the Oak Park Public Library's quarterly newsletter, written by three now-6th graders who, last school year as 5th graders, won the fall 2016 Reading Olympics competition.  They spoke very well about how reading helps maintain brain power over the summer, and is a great way to engage the imagination and a fantastic means of recreation.  (If you want to read the piece, go to this link, and use the arrows to go to page 12.)

Earlier this summer, Chicago was a focus point of the library world with the Annual Conference of the American Library Association, which was held at McCormick Place and nearby venues in late June.  One of the sessions I made a point of attending featured teens from Chicago area libraries sharing their opinions about books nominated for an award for young adult fiction.  I was very pleased to see teens from a group at the Oak Park Public Library share their feedback on the books so thoughtfully at that session.  They were part of the Teen Summer Volunteer program, which engaged teens in a variety of different projects.

One person with a prominent presence at the conference was Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress.  She even received the 2017 Melvil Dewey Medal award, one of many announced at the awards ceremony--and I was pleased to see her in person when I attended it.

Dr. Hayden appears in the center of the picture, and on the left in the black outfit is Dr. Julie Todaro, who recently finished her 2016-2017 term as President of the ALA.  The photos above and below were taken by me.

After the awards, another notable name came to the stage: Ron Chernow, author of the biography Hamilton that served as the basis for the Hamilton musical.

Ron Chernow appears at the podium, just right of center.

He talked about his new biography on Ulysses S. Grant, which is scheduled for release in October.  He started by discussing the notion posed by the question, "Who wrote Mr. Grant's memoirs?"  He learned it started as some kind of witty statement in a Groucho Marx routine.  As part of his research, Mr. Chernow went to look at the actual handwritten manuscripts of Mr. Grant's memoirs--I think he mentioned they were at the Library of Congress.  He then remarked that we need librarians as the arbitrators of truth, especially with the rise of the concept of "fake news".  And he definitely relied on libraries in completing his very large Grant biography, which is hundreds of pages long.  Following his presentation, I had the chance, after waiting nearly an hour in line, to have the pleasure of having him autograph two of his books, including my copy of Hamilton, the first Nativity Day gift jointly given to me by my brother and sister-in-law.

Another prominent figure who spoke at the conference was Hillary Clinton, the featured speaker of the closing session.  I watched her speech later in the week after she gave it.  You can watch the speech on YouTube--it's about 26 minutes long.  Or, you can read the transcript.

I was impressed by the words she spoke in commending the importance of libraries, with her three main points all resonating with my understanding of the role of libraries.  By providing books, libraries encourage people to read.  She notes how wonderful it was to read to Chelsea as a girl, and now to her granddaughters.  Reading also helps develop the brains of children.

But besides being places with books, libraries also bring people together to engage in a variety of activities, like discussions, forums, classes to learn essential skills, and even business people doing entrepreneurial work.  In fact, in this day and age, I see that aspect of libraries becoming increasingly more prevalent.  Libraries are one of those institutions in communities that provide spaces for people from the public to come together.  (The recent solar eclipse viewing event at the Oak Park Public Library underscores how versatile libraries have become in how they use space and in the kinds of programs they can offer in those spaces, not to mention how they even partner with other organizations to serve their communities.  And it certainly brought many people together and got large number of them using the library.)  Indeed, spaces in libraries are resources as important as print and digital materials.  And providing these resources is important to the community, especially to underserved areas where residents would not be able to access them otherwise, which is a major concern in the library world because the Trump administration's budget proposes cuts to funds that go to libraries.

All the resources libraries provide help people be critical thinkers, which Mrs. Clinton noted are more important now than ever, echoing what Mr. Chernow said.  Providing access to resources helps people become more informed, which enhances their ability to engage in the important conversations that take place in a democratic society in the United States.  And from my experience, part of becoming informed is knowing how to evaluate information, especially with the profusion of information available in this day and age.  We can think in terms of just how the internet had deluged us in information, and librarians are the ones who give people floaties to navigate all of it.  Indeed, libraries have so much going for them, and it makes me all the more eager to keep proclaiming the significant contribution they make to society and, in the spirit of the 2017 summer reading program theme, in making a better world.

A Tribute in Vignettes to Deacon Lendell

Earlier this summer, Ascension Parish bid farewell to Deacon Lendell Richardson and his family as he transitions to a new diaconal assignment at another parish.  Throughout his ministry at Ascension, he has shown himself to be a person of strong faith and a devoted servant of God.  These qualities shined forth most in the homilies he gave, and as I reflect on his service to this parish, there are three homilies that stand out to me.

There was one year on a Sunday during Lent, and I don't remember which one, nor what the readings were about, but I remember a kind of mindset for prayer he suggested, using a couple of different examples.  As best I can recall the gist of it, he said, "Lord, help me to see that the elderly couple who is moving slowly in front of me in the grocery store aisle found out that one of them is terminally ill, and they're seeking to spend the most of the time they have left together."  In another example, he said, "Lord, help me to understand that the woman who cut me off in traffic is a single mom who's working multiple jobs to provide for her family, and is in a rush to get home to care for her children."  It was so inspiring for me to hear that, because that kind of mindset helps us not to make quick judgments, but to try to be compassionate and understanding of others' situations.  I was indeed so moved, I approached him after Mass to commend him for what he shared.

More recently--on what I believe was Pentecost Sunday, or perhaps another Sunday in Easter--he talked about how the priest sexual abuse crisis has helped make us a more humble Church.  It is indeed disheartening and crushing to think of the devastation this situation has caused, and I was encouraged to hear him try to make sense of it as part of framing it within a larger context in his homily.  Again, I don't remember everything in that homily, but I remember that one insight.

And then there was the homily he gave at his last Mass at Ascension, on Sunday, June 25, 2017.  The readings for that weekend's liturgy included Jeremiah's lament in Jeremiah 20:10-13 about those who seek to persecute him because as a prophet, he proclaims the word of God, which is Truth that often denounces the actions of people.  In the Gospel reading for that weekend, from Matthew 10:26-33, Jesus tells His disciples not to be afraid of those who can harm them physically, but can't harm their souls.  Deacon Lendell wove insights from the readings masterfully into a reflection on his own experiences, how he has learned throughout the years to trust in God and not be afraid, as he has grown in faith while serving God's people as a deacon.  With that confidence, he would go forth to a new assignment, not being afraid, but continuing to trust and abide in God, Who promises to care for us always, just as he has experienced God's care throughout his time as a member of the Ascension Parish community, for which he expressed deep gratitude for the many ways it has supported him.  As a further moving tribute, his three children all offered their musical talents in singing "Here I am Lord" during the preparation of the altar at Mass.

Truly, Deacon Lendell is a great man of faith, who sets a wonderful example for us the faithful in walking before God always.  You remain in my prayers, Deacon Lendell, as you continue, day by day, to faithfully answer the call to serve God by loving others in His name.  And thank you for the service you have given to Ascension--thanks be to God!

Deacon Lendell giving the homily at his final Mass as a deacon at Ascension Parish

Beholding the Marvel of the Heavens

There's no doubt that the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, was one of the most hyped events in the news, especially in more recent weeks, when I started to catch wind of how big a deal it was.

I had heard about it months ago, mostly in newspaper features, like the Travel section, but didn't give it much thought, even as others were making plans way ahead of time.  But then, I encountered a webpage with FAQ's about the solar eclipse, and while I'm not entirely sure what led me to that page, it might have had something to do with my friend Roy mentioning he would be attending a viewing event with his boss, since he lives near where the path of totality started at the Pacific shore and started moving across the United States.  I realized at that time that this eclipse was truly something spectacular, and not just a matter of overblown hype, and I felt bummed that I made no plans to be in the path of totality for it.

The lack of planning on my part became even more problematic for me as August 21 neared, and because I dragged my feet, I was unable to acquire the special viewing glasses so I could at least view the partial eclipse, and I couldn't figure out how to use one of those homemade viewers.

But I tried to make the best of my circumstances anyway, especially considering the Chicago area was close enough to the path of totality that about 87% of the sun would be covered.

On this past Monday, I was in downtown Chicago at the office where I recently started a new job in information science.  Shortly after 1 PM, I decided to take my hourlong lunch break.  The office administrative assistant had spent the morning making homemade viewers, and around the time I started my lunch break, he was setting up the live NASA TV feed in the large conference room.  I went in there, and with the help of a couple of others, I managed to figure out how to project the partially-eclipsed Sun into the viewer, and it was quite interesting to see a little crescent of light.

I then decided to head outside just before the peak of the partial eclipse aroudn 1:19 PM CDT, and joined the flocks of other people assembling on the sidewalk and looking up.  I asked a woman what she could see, and then, after responding to my question, she was kind enough to loan me her viewers for a moment so I could look at the Sun.  And it was quite something to see the moon blocking the Sun and leaving a crescent.  It was cloudy, which prevented me from noticing a distinct change in the amount of sunlight, but the clouds were thin enough to allow me to see the partial eclipse when using the viewers.

Here's a photo I got of the eclipse.  I can sense from looking at the photo that part of the Sun is blocked, but it's hard to say if that's due to cloud cover.  I took all the photos that appear in this blog post.

Here is a scene of the flock of people gathered outside the building where my office is located, at 155 N. Wacker, to view the peak of the eclipse.

Here's another view from downtown Chicago of the sun around the peak of the eclipse, with the Sears Tower appearing toward the background.

I then walked over to Daley Plaza where I heard Adler Planetarium staff were stationed.  I passed flocks of others standing out on the sidewalks and looking up, though it wasn't too crowded wherever I went--unlike at Millenium Park, where a neighbor of mine went and said was packed.  (A viewing event at Scoville Park drew a huge crowd as well, and because the Main Oak Park Public Library is right next door, it was busier than usual, as statistics gathered that day confirm.  But what a great way to bring visibility to the library, even if it resulted in a large number of calls from people wanting to get solar eclipse viewers.)

As I walked around in the Loop, I couldn't help but think about how flora and fauna are supposed to engage in their nighttime behavior when a total solar eclipse happens.  But in an urban area, the real sign of something happening was seeing people head outside and look up, just like clockwork, at the peak moment of the partial eclipse.

I arrived at Daley Plaza, where many others were gathered and looking up.

Above and below are views from Daley Plaza.  Again, I'm not sure if the cloud cover has something to do with why the Sun appears partially obscured.

Then, I noticed it was getting brighter, and I asked a man looking up with viewers if he noticed the moon starting to move away from the Sun.  He then was kind enough to let me use his viewers.  It was quite a beautiful sight to see the partially-eclipsed Sun, though more of the Sun was uncovered than when I looked at it earlier.  Shortly after this moment, people started to disperse, but many still lingered at Daley Plaza, even to pose for photos by giant solar eclipse viewers, which are in the photo below.

Later that day, I watched NOVA "Eclipse over America" on PBS, which included footage of the total solar eclipse from various places in the United States that had viewing events and where scientists were doing scientific work of observations and research.  I was fascinated to learn what they could study about the sun during a total solar eclipse, especially the team that flew two different airplanes in its path to get nearly 7 minutes of viewing it.  Amazingly, there's much we don't know about the Sun, like why it's hotter at the surface than further inside.  And there have been studies done on the sun in solar eclipses going back decades, like the man who reflected the light through a prism and was able to get a sense of what elements the Sun contains.  It was also nice to watch the program and have experts points out features of the total solar eclipse, like the "diamond ring" that appears once the Moon starts uncovering theSsun.  I also gained a good sense of what happens during the period of totality, and see the darkness that occurs.

I was intrigued to see footage of people watching it at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, as well as what looked to me like Willamette University, just across the street from the Oregon State Capitol, two places I went back in May when visiting Roy.

The concluding part of the program really highlighted how extraordinary of an event a total solar eclipse is.  That was certainly amplified by how well the media covered it, like NASA TV as well as social media, which even Cardinal Cupich used to share a message about the eclipse.  This particular event on August 21 was special in that it crossed the United States from Pacific to Atlantic, the reverse of the poetic "Sea to Shining Sea" that speaks of the breadth of this country.  I could sense a bond that millions of people across the country experienced by sharing this great experience that gives us a sense of our place on Earth and our relationship with other celestial bodies, like the Sun and the Moon, and how important the role of the Sun is in our existence on Earth.  Indeed, it brought people together as we paused to see the show nature put on for us and marvel at the wonders of our Universe.  I couldn't help but think of the camaraderie that arose spontaneously, as evidenced for me in how people were kind enough to let me use their viewers so I could view it safely--I am indeed very appreciative of those two individuals.  (And it was also nice that as I walked back to my office, I encountered a classmate of mine from Valparaiso University as she was headed back to her office in the Loop.)

My experience on Monday gave me a better sense of what to expect and how to plan for it.  And so now, I'm ready to channel my eagerness into making all the appropriate arrangements to be in the path of totality for a subsequent solar eclipse.

But even now, day by day, I can appreciate the wonders of nature.  Later that night after I got home, I saw the brightness of lightning flashes as a thunderstorm rolled by.

And when I got off the Blue Line, the clouds started to break and revealed a lovely sunset.

And then I noticed a halo around the Sun, which you can see in the photo below, if you look at the small rainbow-like glimmer of light that is to the far right.

Yes, there are so many chances we have to glory in natural spectacles all around as we take the time to stop and appreciate them.  Then we can join in praise to God, like in the spirit of Psalm 19:1 NIV: "The Heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

The view of the Sun appearing over the top of the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, and its Sky Chapel, in the Loop, shortly after the peak of eclipse

My NPS Experiences in Photos

It was 101 years ago that the National Park Service was established.

To celebrate the anniversary of that occasion, and to follow up on my blog post on the NPS Centennial a year ago, I present in this post a photo essay of pictures I have from visits to national parks and various other NPS sites, with the date of the visit and links to the NPS site's webpage.  Most photos were taken by Mom or Dad and were from family photo albums, and then beginning with the M.L. King birth home are photos from my own digital camera collections.  I start with Glacier National Park, where I visited with my family on our "train-cation" 20 years ago this month.

Glacier National Park, at one of its many lakes, sometime around August 4-10, 1997:

Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, IL, sometime in the summer of 1998, with this picture from July 29, 2005, when we walked by it:

On the summit of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, late July 2000:

From my personal collection of photos, here I am standing in the outline of the birth house of George Washington, George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Colonial Beach, VA, July 26, 2003:

Our family foursome posing in a photo taken by a fellow visitor at the stone marker of the end of the first, 12 second-long flight made on December 17, 1903, at Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, NC, July 28, 2003:

By Bodie Island Light Station at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, July 28, 2003:

At the Memorial Building housing a replica of the cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, near Hodgenville, KY, July 31, 2006:

In the vicinity of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, July 3, 2007:

Sitting on a log after wading across the width of the Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park, August 12, 2008--on one of three trips that have taken me to that park:

At the Jamestown Fort in Colonial National Historical Park, July 19, 2009:

Donning a coonskin cap and wading around in the Oconaluftee River in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near the entrance by the Cherokee Reservation, NC, May 27, 2010:

On the National Mall, an urban park, Washington, D.C., July 26, 2011:

At Porter Beach, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana, October 30, 2012:

This photo was taken by my colleague-in-meteorology Collette.  A group of us meteorology students went to the Lake Michigan shore to feel the strong winds caused by the sprawling Sandy weather system, blowing as fast as 40 mph.

The home where Martin Luther King, Jr., was born, at Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, Atlanta, GA, February 3, 2014:

Near the north entrance of Independence Hall, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA, June 11, 2016, taken by a fellow visitor:

Outside Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, the smallest NPS site, Philadelphia, PA, June 12, 2016, taken by a passerby:

Castillo San Marcos National Monument, St. Augustine, FL, January 16, 2017:

Frederick Douglass's home at Cedar Hill, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Anacostia neighborhood, Washington, D.C., May 7, 2017:

Fort Sumter National Monument, Charleston, SC, May 11, 2017, taken by a fellow tourist:

Klondike Goldrush National Historical Park---Seattle Unit, WA, May 17, 2017:

Trains as Enjoyable and Essential

Those who know me well know that I thoroughly enjoy traveling by train.  It's almost as if something lights up in my brain when I think of myself riding on a train, especially intercity service like Amtrak.  Passing through Union Station, even when I'm not there to board an Amtrak train, it's enough to see the monitors with departure and arrival information, and see people boarding trains headed to other cities to cause that something to light up inside me.  Indeed, the phrase "Thank you for choosing Amtrak" is music to my ears.

I'm not really sure where this all started, but it definitely happened at a young age.  My family's great long trip through the western United States traveling by train may very well have sown seeds of train-philia.  Around that time, Mom found an Amtrak version of the computer game Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it and riding the rails virtually through the United States while seated in front of a monitor.  There was also all the fun I had playing with Brio, building track layouts and moving the trains around each layout.

I've noticed my endearment of trains growing through the years, especially in recent times, as I've taken advantage of opportunities to travel to various places via Amtrak--with five trips by train since I graduated from graduate school a little more than a year ago.

As great as all those trips were for feeding my philia, a watershed moment came two months ago, when, on the morning of June 17, after a car trip of over 90 miles, I hopped up into a real train engine, and spent the next 30 minutes with a licensed engineer learning how to operate it.

There I am in the engine cab.

This opportunity was part of a Guest Engineer program that is available at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, IN, about 60 miles southwest of South Bend.  It's a museum in a historic train depot filled with displays of items from the bygone days of train operations.  Nearby are some old train cars on display, a repair shop, and a tower that was moved from miles away in northwest Indiana to North Judson.

Here's the view of the museum area from the tower.  The grayish building just to the left of the center of the photo is the historic depot.

In addition to operating pleasure rides for visitors, people willing to pay a hefty fee can spend time with a licensed engineer operating a train engine.

This is the train engine I operated.

The key word is "operate".  You see, a car has a wheel, and you can use it to steer the vehicle.  A train, however, doesn't have a wheel in the engine cab, and it cannot be steered.  The train's movements are controlled by a collection of levers that make it move forward, backward, accelerate, decelerate, and brake.  Of course, all these movements have to be done always keeping in mind safety precautions--hence, I also learned how and when to use the whistle, which made an earsplitting blast even when I pulled its lever just a little bit.

Here I am at the controls.  As I recall them, my right hand is on the throttle, which moves the train--it appears to the left in the picture.  My left hand is on the brake.  Above my right elbow is the whistle.

Bjarne was the wonderful engineer who showed me the ropes that morning, with a couple of other people helping out, including one person who used flag signals when I went through a grade crossing.  I learned how to move the train in reverse, pull it into a siding, back out of the siding, and move it forward back to the starting point at the depot.  And towards the end of our time together, he remarked that I was picking it up like a natural.  I guess that reinforces the idea that I can enter something with little familiarity and learn it quickly.

Bjarne (in the orange safety vest) and I with my certificate upon the successful conclusion of my time in the engine.  This photo was taken by the person at the counter in the museum--I believe his name was Bob.  Bjarne took the two pictures of me above in the engine cab.

Given how my love affair with trains started early, it sometimes seems like it's a childish thing such that I'd be better off just leaving it aside.  Some people even feel that passenger train service serves little purpose in the 21st Century United States, and seek to curtail it.  Case in point: a few months ago, the Trump administration's proposed budget called for eliminating long-distance Amtrak routes, based on their running a deficit.

Passenger rail advocates held rallies on June 23 to advocate for long-distance Amtrak service, noting how cutting these long distance routes would leave countless communities throughout the United States without any passenger train service and all the accompanying benefits.  The name of the website for the rallies, Towns without Trains, refers to how for many communities Amtrak trains serve, Amtrak provides the only reliable daily intercity transportation.  Indeed, when I was riding the Empire Builder back in May, I passed through many rural Montana cities that are not within a reasonable traveling distance to any major airport, and so those cities are notable examples of the importance of passenger rail service as a lifeline for them.  That's definitely a major reason to keep the long-distance service running.  Additionally, without long-distance passenger trains, the short-distance train corridors would be isolated from one another, and that would reduce ridership, considering many riders connect between long- and short-distance trains.

On the whole, in the present day, train travel has fallen out of people's mindset as a means of transportation.  I think of the day I left for South Carolina back in May, and when I told someone of my travel plans for later that day, she asked me when I was flying out, as seems typical when going somewhere long-distance.  I then told her I was going by train, and she expressed delight at the idea.  Last summer, after attending the SLA conference in Philadelphia, I was talking with someone about that trip, and she made a remark about my taking the effort to fly there, to which I responded I didn't fly.  After attempting a couple of other guesses regarding my mode of transportation, she then flat out asked me how I got there, as if it seemed like she wouldn't have ever thought to guess train.  Usually, people are rather surprised when I tell them I travel long distances via Amtrak trains.

Given the state of flux for Amtrak service in recent months, it seems appropriate that a few months ago, I got around to reading Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service, by James McCommon, a book I had seen often while shelving on the 3rd floor of the Oak Park Public Library.  It was a great read, certainly in large part because of my intense enamorment of trains.  In the book, Mr. McCommons's travels throughout the United States over the course of several months in 2008 to visit with people working for various railroad companies, people in government managing train affairs, passenger rail advocates, and people who work at Amtrak to get their perspectives on the state of train service in the United States.  He traveled from his home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to all over, including the Pacific Northwest, California, Florida, Maine, Texas, and then some.  He travels almost exclusively on Amtrak, and in addition to sharing what he learned from talking with experts, he also shares his experiences onboard the trains, including the sights he sees and his fellow passengers.

As part of setting the scene, he takes care to tell about the history of railroad service in the United States, which is a complex one because the railroads became a vital part of the nation's infrastructure, moving people and goods fast and efficiently in their heyday.  But they were run by private companies motivated by profit, and that led to some issues.

He makes it clear that train service in this country today is in dire straits, although it's improved some since the shaky nascent days of Amtrak in the early 1970's, which was created by the federal government with some thinking that doing so would make passenger train service die.  Part of the problem is that unlike roads, which are generally in the public domain, railroad tracks are the private property of railroad companies.  Amtrak operates the vast majority of its trains over tracks owned and maintained by the rail companies, and are at the mercy of those companies.  This is a problem with Union Pacific in particular, which has no interest in supporting passenger service.  Union Pacific even flatly refused his requests for an interview for the book.  As the book relates, this leads to some routes experiencing major delays frequently, like the Texas Eagle.  Other companies are more willing to collaborate with Amtrak, especially in maintaining good on-time performance.  One industry expert Mr. McCommons interviews in the book boldly suggested that the rail tracks be nationalized so that they, like roads, are more commonly shared by all users, freight and passenger service.

Other people he talked with shared how they've tried to build up support to secure funding to enhance the train infrastructure to increase passenger rail service on certain short-distance corridors, like the Downeaster Service from Boston to Portland, ME, which now goes all the way to Freeport, and the Cascades service, with service from Vancouver, BC, to Eugene-Springfield, OR.  These are among some of Amtrak's successes.

And then there are people like Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association who want to take it all many steps further, building rail lines dedicated for passenger service capable of reaching speeds over 200 mph, like trains already running in Europe and Asia.  His vision shows how such a network could bring greater interconnectivity to a region like the Midwest, and with it, greater economic vitality.  It would also more efficiently connect Midwestern cities, since they're so close to each other, enough so that air service isn't as efficient, especially from an environmental standpoint.  Indeed, train service is much more green than auto travel, and especially more than planes, because they can transport large numbers of travelers at once over greater distances, using less fuel.  Trains ought to be a significant part of those advocating for action to combat global climate change.

For me, it's clear that despite the troubles passenger train service has faced in recent decades, it still has so much potential to play an important part in a robust transit infrastructure in the United States. In recent years, I feel our society has come to depend almost too much on air travel, to an almost unhealthy degree--and the airline industry has been plagued by its own share of troubles because people demand too much out of it.

Furthermore, I think we need to diversify our transportation options, especially when we consider situations when the air space has to be closed to all commercial air passenger service for safety reasons, as happened in the aftermath of September 11 or even when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010 and spewed volcanic ash all over European airspace.  Even the damage caused by a fire at an Aurora FAA facility in 2014 was enough to disrupt air service in the Chicago area.  Even when it comes to inclement weather, trains run when planes can't.  Mr. McCommons talks about heading out of Chicago in the midst of a blizzard while flight cancellations abounded at Chicago airports.

Speaking of safety, it's clear that any expansion of passenger rail service will require adherence to the highest standards of safety.  Around the time I started reading Waiting on a Train, I watched the PBS science show NOVA program "Why Trains Crash", focusing on train safety, and included telling the stories of three incidents that highlight the importance of safety standards: the May 2015 crash of Amtrak train #188 north of Philadelphia, the September 2008 Metrolink commuter train crash in the Los Angeles Metro Area, and the Lac Megantic freight train crash in July 2013.  The program extensively mentions Positive-Train Control (PTC) as a means to prevent crashes when a train surpasses speed limits.  While the federal government has passed legislation to require the implementation of PTC, the railroads have delayed in the installation because of costs.  (When I was headed to Seattle this past May, someone remarked how some mechanical devices installed on tracks could be a cost-effective alternative to PTC, and that suggestion got me thinking about its large-scale feasibility.)

The program holds up Japan as a paragon in train operations, and safety.  They have a well-developed network of high-speed bullet trains, which are a significant part of the transportation infrastructure there, factoring into even urban planning, as train stations function also as major shopping centers.  The program showed how in a city in Japan, all rail service shuts down every night at midnight, at which time workers come out in force to do maintenance work, to ensure that the train can continue operating safely at their high speeds.  Train systems like the one in Japan are what MHSRA point to as examples to be emulated in the United States.

Indeed, passenger rail service, including high-speed rail lines, have so much potential to benefit society in the United States.  But as Mr. McCommons makes clear in the epilogue of Waiting on a Train, it's going to cost money, which I think is the single biggest obstacle to expanding passenger rail service in the US.  There are people who are just plain unwilling to pay.  In fact, Mr. McCommons shares an anecdote that when people think of developing transportation infrastructure, they talk about "investing" in roads, but "subsidizing" train service.

As a result, train service is in rather poor shape.  One anecdote that highlights this is how there is no direct rail service from Chicago to Houston.  Passengers have to transfer to a bus at Longview, TX, and then ride it south for a few hours to reach a dingy shack of a station that is tucked away among the freeway sprawl in Houston.  Even in major cities like Chicago, there is so much need for money to improve light-rail rapid transit service, but the money is not readily available.

Meanwhile, other places in the world are really taking off in developing amazing train service, like in Europe and Asia.  Perhaps those regions are more closely connected, and so the task of creating a high-speed network is not so daunting as doing the same across the United States, though the MHSRA says that the Midwestern United States is a region close in size to Europe.

China already has a commercially-operating Magnetic levitation train, which basically use the force of magnetism to move the train as it hovers over the track.  Japan is also developing this train technology.  These trains can operate at speeds of 375 mph. If such a train operated commercially in the United States, a passenger could get from Chicago to St. Louis in less than an hour.  Think of what kind of impact that could have on increasing mobility and interconnectivity.

With my immense enthusiasm for train travel, I'm hopeful that creating big plans will at least get our society moving in the right direction to change attitudes about train travel and take little steps toward realizing more ambitious goals.  Meanwhile, I'll do my part by seeking out opportunities to ride the rails and show that it works, and it's worth focusing on as we blaze ahead in efforts to enhance our transportation infrastructure, as more than lofty dreams, but a solid vision for the future of travel in the United States.  With focus and a steady hand, like I used when learning how to operate the train engine, I'm sure trains will make a significant comeback, and once again take their place at the table of major players in society, just like in their golden days, even as I continue to feel my passion for trains.

A fellow passenger got this photo of me in the lounge car of the eastbound Empire Builder, while we were in North Dakota, as I show my passion for train travel, with a shirt from my cousin's company, Belong Designs.

The Great Amtrak Train Trip Adventure

Twenty years ago this day, on August 15, 1997, my family concluded a wonderful and incredible vacation in which we looped around the western United States, traveling by train.  It certainly left quite a big impression on me as a 6-year-old, given the few memories I have of it.

We departed on August 2, 1997.  A family friend who lived on the other side of the alley from us drove our family foursome to Chicago Union Station.  There, we boarded Amtrak's Empire Builder route, and rode it to Whitefish, MT, arriving in the evening of August 3.  The one part of that leg of the trip I remember is passing by Glacier National Park on our way to Whitefish, which is west of the park.  We stayed there for a few days and spent time in Glacier National Park, enjoying the scenic wonders there, the forests, the mountains, the lakes, and even the Continental Divide.  We hiked around, and even went for a ride on a ski lift gondola.  At one point, we went up somewhere high, and then a thunderstorm came over ahead--we may have reached that spot on the lift.  We had to stay inside the building and got lunch like most everyone else.  After another rain event passed, I remember looking outside the window of our hotel room and seeing a rainbow.  Mom used that as an opportunity to remind me of the story of Noah, and how God used the rainbow as a sign of His promise never to flood the Earth again and destroy all life.  I don't really remember much about being in Whitefish, except that we went to some place in town, and I think it was for ice cream.

We then boarded the Empire Builder again at Whitefish, and rode it overnight southwest to Portland, OR.  I sort of remember the end of that leg of the journey as we pulled into Portland Union Station.  I remember walking around the downtown area, passing some fountains, and stopping at a book sale being held outside.  I even remember picking up a book that had some kind of soft fur-like material inside, which was scented.  After spending a few hours there, we boarded the Coast Starlight and rode it south to Sacramento, CA, another overnight ride.  We sat in the lower level of the double-decker car and had Subway sandwiches for dinner.

I was aroused from my sleep early when we arrived in Sacaramento between 6 and 7 AM.  Mom or Dad put on my shoes, and led me as all of us walked from the station to the Holiday Inn hotel where we had booked accommodations.  I think it was me who expressed puzzlement over why we were staying at a Holiday Inn if it wasn't a holiday, and Dad remarked that any day could be a holiday.  After we checked in--Mom said the hotel clerk said we were doing "really early" check-in--we got on an elevator with a family who were all dressed up, went to our room, and then I fell asleep again.  I awoke to see that the clouds of the early morning had cleared, and it was sunny.  We then went to breakfast.

In Sacramento, we went to see the Old Sacramento historic area, which included some shops, and a railroad museum, which I have some memory of being by a river.  We also visited the California State Capitol, which I'm fairly certain was the first state capitol I've ever visited, at least outside of Illinois, with a long string of other state capitols to follow.  There was also some kind of mall near our hotel that had a store with a Looney Tunes theme, which my brother Eric and I really enjoyed.

After a few days there, we boarded the California Zephyr route and rode it east to Denver, which was an overnight ride.  This part of the route is famed for its stunning scenery, but the only thing I remember seeing out the train window was a sign at Reno declaring it the Biggest Little City in the World.  The train was late arriving at Denver, arriving after dark.  Uncle Leonard and Aunt Carmen were at Denver Union Station to pick us up.  We got ourselves into the car, and I sat on someone's lap in the back seat as Uncle Leonard drove us to their house, where we stayed during our time in Denver.  I remember walking around in downtown Denver, and visiting the state capitol.  And, of course, we had opportunity to visit with our other family members in the Denver area, though I don't recall much about the visit we had together as a larger group.  So far as I know, this was my first visit to Denver and my first time being with my wonderful extended family there.

As Mom recounts it, we had a short visit there, and then, on August 14, we boarded the California Zephyr again and headed back to Chicago.  I remember the train was very late arriving at Denver--nearly 5 hours.  Because it was so tardy, we had Uncle Leonard drive us four, with Aunt Carmen accompanying, to the station well before the train arrived, and we just waited there until nearly midnight when it finally arrived.  Mom and Dad made it very clear we had to be quiet as we boarded because most everyone on the train was asleep, and the lights were turned down so that it was dark onboard.

We awoke the next morning well after the dining car had ended breakfast service, so we went to the cafe car.  I remember having cereal, which I haven't seen served in the cafe car of any Amtrak train I've ridden recently.

Because of the major delay, the train handed out complimentary sandwiches to everyone for dinner.  It was still somewhat light out when we arrived at Naperville, but it had gotten much darker by the time we arrived at Union Station, well behind schedule.  After a taxi ride from Union Station, we were back at home sweet home.

In reliving this amazing trip 20 years later, I don't have rely solely on my memory.  There are some great pictures in a family photo album that can help me recall what our foursome experienced during that nearly 2-week period.  You probably remember seeing some of them in my blog posts about my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest.  Below are some more photos I dug out, mostly taken by Mom and Dad.

I'm in the red shirt standing to the left of my brother Eric, also in a red shirt.  Dad is in a lighter-colored shirt all the way to the right, and Mom is in a pinkish shirt behind me.  The caption Mom created says it all:  Here we are upon our departure, right before we got into the car that appears to the right, belonging to the neighbor, who took this picture, and were taken to Union Station, where, in the photo below, you see Mom, my brother Eric, and me in the waiting room, right before boarding the train.  I'm wearing that bright orange hat in many of these pictures.

Here I am at the entrance sign of Glacier National Park.

Above, Eric and I are in some kind of mountain stream.

Above, I'm standing with some kind of mountain ridge in the back.

In this photo, I'm by one of the many lakes in the park.

Here I am out in the woods.

Above, Mom and I are standing by one of the many lakes with breathtaking mountain views.

I think that Eric was the one who most likely took this photo of Mom, Dad, and me, with a stunning mountain view in the background.

In this photo, Mom and I are posing with a mountain stream in the background.

Above is the gondola at Big Mountain, MT.  Below is Eric and me riding in the gondola car.

This photo was taken before we boarded the Empire Builder train and headed to Portland.

In this picture, I'm standing by a vintage train engine at the California State Railroad Museum.  Maybe this museum, along with all the train traveling of this trip, stoked my intense enthusiasm for trains.

Here's me at the Red Rock Ampitheatre just west of Denver.

Eric and I appear in this photo after climbing up to the top of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, with the view overlooking Civic Center Park toward the Denver City/County Building.

This vacation was truly an extraordinary opportunity of adventure for me at such a young age.  I was able to gain a sense of the large breadth of this country by traveling so many miles.  I got to enjoy scenic wonders, and historical places.  It was also great to spend quality time with family over a nearly two-week period, and even include some time with extended family in Denver.  And we got around to all of it while experiencing the delights of train travel, which, even despite the enormous delay, I remember liking very much.

During those August days, I know I made memories to last a lifetime.  I am certainly grateful my parents provided this great opportunity for us to be together and enjoy so much of what the United States has to offer.