Tag: #dailyprompt

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Dogs, Uncategorized, Wildlife

The Bobcat

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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I sat straight up in bed in fear of my life. It was the middle of the night and something had just woken me up. I had just heard a woman scream – loudly. The thing is…..I lived alone at the time, in a wooded area with no close neighbors. Who in the world could have screamed?

I was afraid to get out of bed. But, I had a big dog that slept in his bed beside me. Murphy, an old shepherd/collie mix who I had rescued. Murphy was fiercely loyal to me and he was not a dog that you took lightly. There was no way to know what had happened to Murphy in the eight years of his life before I rescued him, but it wasn’t good. He came to me aggressive and a fear-biter. He hated men but would make up to women. Most of all, he loved me. He seemed to know I had saved him.

When I heard the scream, so, of course, did Murphy. He jumped up and immediately went to the door, about to tear it down. He wanted out. Murphy had guard instincts but mostly he was all about protecting me. My first thought was to keep him inside. I didn’t know what was going on. I was afraid someone was outside trying to break into my house. I was still half asleep. I couldn’t explain the scream.

Murphy overruled me. He showed no cowardice. Most dogs know no cowardice. Their instincts are to protect hearth, home, and master or mistress. I opened the door and let him out. Against my better judgement. In the dark, he took off in one particular direction, through the dark of my large backyard.

I had a dusk to dawn light in the backyard so it was somewhat lit up in one spot. It was heavily wooded as well. Murphy ran toward the spot that was somewhat lit up. That’s when I saw it. The bobcat. It was sitting on the lowest branch of a tree looking down. Murphy was running right for it.

Bobcats are more common in North America than we know. They are elusive. They stay hidden in the day and roam and hunt at night. They are carnivores and can kill prey much larger than they are, though they usually eat smaller animals such as rabbits, mice, and squirrels. They can be as large as 30 pounds. They are also called wildcats and are the most common of all of the big cats in North America. Since they are so elusive, most of us would be surprised to know that there are as many as one million bobcats in the U.S. alone.

But, the calling card of the bobcat is its scream. It sounds like a woman screaming. I remembered that when I saw the cat sitting in the tree with my dog running toward it.

I didn’t really think the cat would attack my dog. It was in a tree and would not feel particularly threatened. But, I had just been awakened in the middle of the night and was not thinking particularly straight. I started screaming for Murphy to come inside. Murphy as obedient. He stopped, looked around…..I don’t think he ever saw the bobcat but his nose was in the air and he smelled it. I’m confident if that bobcat had been on the ground he would have taken it on, thinking he was protecting me.

Dogs are really amazing creatures. They show only bravery under the most difficult of circumstances and no cowardice. They are man’s best friend. We should always treat them as such. #amwriting #writing #blogging #dogs #kyfishwildlife #dailyprompt

 

 

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Politics, Uncategorized

A Darkness Over Our Country

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

A darkness has descended over our country. No, I’m not talking about ISIS. I’m not even talking about terrorism in general. I’m talking about how the political environment in the United States is affecting our society and the relationships between people in our country.

There was a time, a long period of time, in the U.S. that politics and religion were two topics that were not discussed between friends in what was then called “polite society.” I’m not suggesting that we go back to that time. I am suggesting that we take some lessons from that time.

The political environment in U.S. has gotten so toxic that people of different political persuasions literally cannot have a discussion about the issues affecting the U.S. today without becoming angry and spewing vitriol to their acquaintances and even to their family and friends. I have never been in such an environment in the U.S. in my lifetime. For most of the years of my life, I have not known the political affiliations of my friends and acquaintances. Politics was something we did not discuss. Because of my profession, we always discussed issues that affected our country and other countries. We had spirited discussions. But, they never devolved to the point where people became angry and friendships were affected. We always laughed, shook hands at the end of our discussions, and agreed to disagree. That doesn’t seem to happen anymore.

When friends and family discuss the issues affecting the U.S. now, during the 2016 Presidential campaign, someone, or several someone’s, are going to walk away angry. I don’t understand this. We all have opinions. Some of us think that we need a fence between our country and Mexico. Some of us think there are other solutions. Some of us think we need a “change” from the policies of the current political administration. Some of us think the current administration has done a good job. I recall that, in 2008, some thought we needed a change then as well. Some of us have strong opinions that a change is needed in our foreign policy in a number of areas. Some of us think a change is needed in other areas. Some of us strongly believe in the Medicare and Social Security systems as they are. Some of us don’t.

What I am doing is illustrating that there is a plethora of issues facing our country. It isn’t possible, or even desirable, for all of us to have the same opinion. Differing opinions is what our two-party system is based on. If everyone had the same opinion, there would be no need for a two-party system. That is when the country starts to lean toward Fascism.

I avoid political discussions now. I am one of those people who has lost a friend, partly because we engaged in political discussions. I am sure some of you reading this blog post may be able to say the same. Somehow, our society in the U.S. has to get past thinking that politics is more important than relationships. No matter who is in the White House, no matter who is in the Congress, we need our friends and family. It is unfathomable to me that we have allowed this type of darkness to descend over our society. It is a sign of radicalism taking hold of us and leading us down a path where we should not want to go. #amwriting #writing #blogging #politics

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Uncategorized, Women's Issues

The Glass Ceiling

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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There are women out there right now reading this blog post for one reason — the title. The glass ceiling. Women and members of minorities work hard all their lives and often can never reach their potential in their chosen profession. Why? An invisible barrier that is unofficially acknowledged in business that especially affects women and minorities but can affect men too. That barrier is called the glass ceiling, a term coined in the 1980’s which represents a barrier to a forbidden level of achievement in the business world, usually upper management.

The glass ceiling is actually an unfair system of prejudices through which employees can see the next level of advancement above their current professional positions but can’t attain those positions because of gender, age, ethnicity, or political and religious affiliation. The media focuses mostly on the inability of women to break through the glass ceiling, but minorities have just as many problems as do women and so do older employees and those of political or religious affiliations that do not set well with upper management. These employees who are staring straight up at the glass ceiling are just as qualified and deserving as other employees who are not hampered by the glass ceiling.

Hillary Clinton, when she won the Democratic Presidential nomination, shattered the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the world. That did not solve the problems for all the women in the world who will still be banging their heads on that glass. There are a plethora of metaphors that are offshoots of the glass ceiling metaphor. For example, young black women claim that there is no glass ceiling for them. They can’t even see through that ceiling and they call it the concrete ceiling! Working mothers call it the “maternal wall.” Asian employees refer to it as the “bamboo ceiling.” There are even more associated metaphors.

Lest the white males who are reading this post feel left out, they are not. There has been more than one case of a man choosing a profession usually reserved for a woman or a member of a minority group who has run up against the glass ceiling. There is a case study of a man who entered the field of sales and applied for a job selling beauty products. He encountered substantial resistance from women in the field. The fields of nursing and public relations are other examples. Those are traditionally women-dominated fields. Men entering those fields often face increased scrutiny, stereotyping, and they bump their heads on the glass ceiling. It forces men to face what women have been encountering in forbidden career choices for years.  When men are affected in this way, it is called the reverse glass ceiling.

Most business analysts believe the glass ceiling has been cracked but not broken. Women still have a hard time climbing to the top. I experienced this myself and you can read about my struggle in my own career in Women and Autonomy: Self-Determination. Baby boomers who have retired and are re-entering the workplace because, perhaps, their retirement savings is not enough to sustain them face age discrimination. Black Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans – they face the same struggles women face in climbing to the top in the management of businesses. Employees who loudly express political views and employees who make their religious affiliations known may also have problems climbing to the top.

Some in the media and the business world like to claim that the glass ceiling has been broken because of women like Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina, who was head of Hewlett-Packard. Fiorina proclaimed the days of the glass ceiling to be over. Fiorina is wrong. Jone Johnson Lewis, in her article Glass Ceiling for Women, cites a Reuters study, conducted in 2008, that says 95% of American workers believe that strides women have made in the job market have improved dramatically, but 86% say that the glass ceiling has been cracked but not broken. There are only women in 14% of the major CEO jobs in the U.S. There are five Black Americans who are CEO’s and Asian Americans are less than two percent of CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies.

There is some hope for the future. Another blogger has found that companies with diversity goals pay their female employers a premium salary in order to draw them in. Check out her blog post. Another blogger encourages women to be their own advocate in her blog post. Yet another blogger discusses how to break the glass ceiling.

The glass ceiling may be an old concept but the U.S. still has a long way to go in order to fix the problem and break the glass ceiling and the “good ole boy” mindset that causes it. #amwriting #writing #blogging #womensissues

 

 

Posted in Appalachia, Creative Nonfiction Essays, education, Higher Education, Uncategorized, Women's Issues

Women and Autonomy: Self-Determination

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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One of my passions is writing about women’s issues. Another one of my passions is thinking about the concept of women and autonomy. Why? Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I decided I wanted a professional career. Not only did I want a professional career, but I wanted a career in a male-dominated field. I wanted to get my doctorate in Business Administration and teach on a university level in a business school, specifically in finance.

During those years, there were very few women in the field of finance. Sorry, guys, but back then, that meant I was fighting an uphill battle. To be fair, I think the men of 2016 are far more accepting of women in previously dominated male professions than some of the men were in 1979, when I embarked on studying for my career.

If you look in the dictionary, you will find that the word “autonomy” has several different meanings that actually all mean the same thing. It is defined as “the freedom to determine one’s own actions” and it does not say one thing that is gender-specific. It isn’t just specific to men…..or women.

When I made the decision to study for and embark on my career, I didn’t feel the need to ask anyone, including my husband, if that was an acceptable decision. I felt like, as an individual human being, that I had the autonomy to make this decision myself. I did. It was my right.

I studied for and obtained my Master’s degree (Master of Business Administration or MBA) and then, I studied for my Doctor of Business Administration or DBA. It wasn’t easy. The coursework was hard. Writing the dissertation was hard. Not only did I work the entire time I was going to school, but I was also married and taking care of my mother. At first, I taught at the school from which I got my doctorate. Later, when I was working on my dissertation, I taught at a school 75 miles away and commuted to work. I always laughed and told my friends that my dissertation was written in the middle of the night because that is the only time when I had the time and quiet to do it.

I had a lot of friends who were also studying for their doctorates. Most of the other students in the program were men. There was only one other woman in my field of finance. We had friends, however, across disciplines — in marketing, management, etc. All the women had a similar life and similar schedule to mine. The men were a different story. Either they were single and could concentrate totally on their studies or they were with a supportive partner who carried the load while they studied. Not so with the women in the program. We had to continue on with our traditional roles as women. We saw this as unfair.

Back in those days, others saw it as fair. After all, we made the decision to seek out a non-traditional role for ourselves. It felt like punishment. Even though we had taken back our autonomy as human beings to seek out our careers, we were being punished for not pursuing our traditional roles as women.

The discrimination continued when we took our newly-minted degrees and started applying for jobs. Of course, the discrimination was unspoken and subtle because laws had already been passed before the 1980s prohibiting such discrimination. The women I knew in finance at my school and other schools were seen as odd to have pursued a degree in an all-male field. Lucky for us, universities needed us at that time. The concept of diversity was becoming important. Universities were being encouraged to have a more diverse faculty and hiring a woman for their finance department fit the bill. We all got jobs.

I could keep talking about this endlessly. About how women in male-dominated fields in universities have to work twice as hard for 3/4 of the pay. About how it is extra hard for us to get promotion and tenure. About how our portfolios for promotion and tenure have to be superior to any male colleagues’ portfolio. About how our salary increases never match those of our male colleagues. About how, by the time  I retired, I still didn’t make as much money as male colleagues who had the exact same credentials as I did. About how the schedules I taught, semester after semester, were more difficult than any male colleague I had.

It all finally burned me out. I was tired of fighting. It was a fight. Right up until the end. When I reached the point where I could retire with most of my pension and my health insurance, I did just that. Retired.

I’ve never looked back. I’ve never been sorry I retired. I’ve never tried to get another teaching job even though I am more than qualified. I decided, 27 years before the time I retired, to reach out, take back my autonomy, and have a professional career. It was the most difficult thing I ever did……and, despite the hardships, the most rewarding. I loved teaching. I taught mostly Appalachian students. I loved seeing their eyes light up when they “got” a concept I was teaching. I miss those students. I miss teaching them.

I don’t miss the discrimination and the politics of academia. I don’t miss the service on unnecessary committees. I also loved to do the research that is required of college professors, but there is not enough time given to professors due to such heavy teaching loads to do good research. If I am going to do research in my field of finance, it is going to be good research or I’m not going to do it.

My point in writing this post is to encourage women to take back their autonomy. If you have a passion to do something — anything — do it! You won’t be a fulfilled person if you don’t. If you aren’t fulfilled, you won’t be any good to your family or your community. I urge you, as strong women, to think about what you want to do with your life, get the education you need to do it, and then go and do it. You will be a better, more fulfilled person for it. #amwriting #writing #blogging #womensissues

 

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, environment, Uncategorized

The Solace of Water

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.

— John Muir

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There is nothing that soothes me like the sound of water. A babbling brook, crashing ocean waves, a trickling stream, waves sloshing against the sand at low tide, the rain on the roof. Those water-related sounds of nature. I think they are built into our DNA. They were there in the beginning .They still soothe me like nothing else.

There are many scientific studies that have researched the effect of water on our brains. Some scientists believe that our brains are hardwired to react positively to being around water, that it calms us and even makes us more creative, and puts us in a mild meditative state. One scientist, Walter Nichols, wrote a book entitled, “The Blue Mind,” which discussed how being around water may even be able to heal what is broken in our brains and increase our happiness and satisfaction with life. He says that water gives our brains some downtime, a rest, which most of us need.

When we hear water or are around water, our “blue” mind takes over and puts us in a state of “we” versus “me.” We can stand at the edge of a large lake or look across the ocean and get a sense of vastness and that there is something larger than ourselves. That helps us put life into perspective.

There are physical health benefits from water as well. The more seafood we eat, the better off we are. Most seafood is full of omega-3’s which increase brain growth. The more we eat, the bigger our brains get. Scientists have also discovered that the more fish you eat, the happier you are.

Then there is our body composition. The human body is about 60% water. The brain and heart are around 73% water and the lungs are 83% water. We, as human beings, feel comfortable being around water. A normal sized male needs a little more than a gallon per day of water to survive. A normal sized female needs about one-half gallon. Water has vital functions in our body. It regulates our temperature. It helps metabolize our food in order to move the nutrients into our cells. It lubricants our joints. It flushes out toxins from our bodies. It helps produce saliva. And much more.

No wonder we like to be around water and that water soothes us! It’s part of us.

I crave being near the ocean and, unfortunately, I live in a land-locked state. I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel and spend considerable amounts of time near the ocean. The only ocean I haven’t seen is the Indian Ocean. The wildest ocean I’ve ever experienced is the part of the North Atlantic called the North Sea. The calmest ocean is part of the Atlantic as well – the Gulf of Mexico. No matter which ocean  I’ve been to, those swooshing sounds of the waves relax my brain and body and let me leave myself for just a little while. That’s all I need. #blogging #writing #amwriting #environment #dailyprompt

 

 

 

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays, Living Life, Uncategorized

Glass Half Empty…..or Half Full?

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Are you a glass half empty or half full person? I confess. I can often be a glass half-empty person….a bit of a pessimist. Not always. It depends on what we’re talking about. I can also be a crazy glass half-full optimist. This expression is used so often now that it’s often just referred to as the “Optimist/Pessimist saying.”

The glass half-empty saying is an idiom. When you think about it, you realize it is used to illustrate that different people perceive a situation in different ways. Some optimistically. Some not so much. How you perceive a situation is based, to some extent, on your own experiences during your life. Some people have had experiences that have made them more an optimist than a pessimist and vice versa.

The glass half-empty principle really becomes interesting when you think of how attitude affects your health. If you always see the glass half-empty, then you have a pessimistic view of life. Can that possibly be healthy? Of course not! If you are an optimistic person, you wake up every morning and see the day filled with possibilities. You expect positive results from what you do each day. A study done consisting of a group of law students in 2012 found that the law students who were optimistic made more than $30,000 above their pessimistic counterparts. Optimism creates good fortune. If you are a pessimist and expect bad things to happen, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It’s a tough world out there and you can use the glass half-full/half-empty saying to help yourself out if you are trying to improve your life by…..let’s say……buying a home, getting a job, or something else equally difficult in this world of ours. First, avoid pessimists! They drain your energy and sap your self-confidence. Engage with people like an optimist. Carry yourself well. Don’t slump. Look good. Spiff up your personal hygiene — hair, nails, clothes. Smile and laugh. Laughter really is the best medicine. Think of that half-full glass and feel optimistic and smile. Laughter has all kinds of health benefits such as lowered blood sugar and blood pressure. Plus it makes you look good and feel good. Get some exercise. Take the dog for a walk. Exercise releases all those feel good endorphins.

We live in a world that tends to be a glass half-empty place. Be a glass half-full person  and you will be surprised what you can accomplish. #writing #amwriting #blogging #glass half-full #dailyprompt

 

 

 

 

Posted in Creative Nonfiction Essays

Map Quest

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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If you want to come see me, follow the map and these directions:

1. From wherever you are, go to Interstate 75 which runs north and south from southern Florida to northern Michigan. Go north on I-75. Be careful. No matter where you are on I-75, the traffic is heavy. It is the most heavily traveled interstate highway in the U.S.

2. Depending on where you get on I-75, you will see lots of beautiful scenery. From the swamps of the Everglades in Florida, through Georgia’s piney forest, to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and Kentucky. Next comes the Buckeye State of Ohio where you will find farming and manufacturing and, finally, Michigan, but Lower Michigan.

3. Lower Michigan is the mitten-shaped part of the state. I-75 will take you past Detroit and Flint, where I have relatives, then up through the central part of the state where my aunt and uncle made their home. A couple of more hours of driving and you are at the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge. It’s summer so the big bridge in the sky should be relatively easy to cross. In the winter, that is not always true. Of course, you can always get an escort to drive you across.

4.  When I went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the first time, we took a ferry across the Straits of Mackinaw. The Mackinaw Bridge is the longest suspension bridge between two anchorages (the Lower and Upper Peninsula of Michigan) in the Western Hemisphere and is five miles in length. It carries four lanes of I-75.

5.  Keep going north as you pass St. Ignace on the northern side of the Mackinaw Bridge. Remember that you go north until you run out of I-75 which is at Sault Ste. Marie, MI on Lake Superior. When you get to Sault Ste. Marie, turn west on MI-28, heading toward Marquette, MI at the western end of the Upper Peninsula. You will be treated to a beautiful drive along the southern shoreline of Lake Superior. The lake is wild and the shoreline is rocky. The rocks are the most beautiful you will ever see. Stop and pick up some.

6. Some of the attractions along the southern shore are Pictured Rocks National Seashore, Grand Island, and Munising Waterfalls…..and much more. You can stop or continue on to see me.

7.  You are still on MI-28 but now you are getting close to Marquette, MI. Start watching for an old road on your right which is called Old MI-28. When you see it, turn right onto Old MI-28. You will see a group of log cabins along this road. My cabin is the third  one on the right along the lakeshore. Aren’t the birch logs that it is made out of beautiful? You are in Shelter Bay, MI.

You have found me at this beautiful spot. You’ll know it’s my cabin by the great big rock in Lake Superior right in front of the cabin. See all the cars out back of the cabin? My family is having a party. Come join us. There is just one caveat. You’ve found me, but it’s the six-year old me and the year is around the early 1960’s.

I visited this cabin in Shelter Bay, with my parents, often during my childhood and growing up years. My dad’s family would always rent it and I remember my time there as one  big happy party. My dad’s family believed in having a party and they could throw a good one. All my great aunts and uncles would show up along with most of my dad’s siblings. My mother, who grew up in the Kentucky Bible Belt, was decidedly uncomfortable, but she had to learn to cope.

The cabin front, facing Lake Superior, was glass on three sides with cots around the outside of the room. At six years old, I still remembered a lot. The porcupines that lived under the porch. The fact that there was an outhouse, not a bathroom, took some getting used to since there were black bears roaming at night and the porcupines. In the kitchen, everyone cooked on an awesome wood stove. I can envision my grandfather sitting in a big chair by the fireplace that was used year round.

What I remember most was the love in that cabin when we were all there. There was so much love that I felt enveloped in it. Some days, I wish I could go back to being six years old and in that cabin again. Like today. I’ve lost a dear friend under difficult circumstances. Lake Superior, my family, most of them gone now, and the love in that cabin is calling me. #dailyprompt #writing #amwriting #blogging #everydayinspiration

 

 

Posted in history, Uncategorized

The Song of Hiawatha

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was written in 1855 and set on the southern shore of Lake Superior, the largest of the five Great Lakes and the largest fresh water lake in North America. The poem is connected to the Pictured Rocks area of the lakeshore. Hiawatha, a Chippewa warrior, and Minehaha, his true love, played out a tragic love story in the beautiful poem on the Pictured Rocks Seashore.

The poem is also connected to Lake Superior because of one of the most famous lines in the poem……”by the shores of Gitche-Gumee, by the shining Big-Sea-Water…”. Gitche-Gumee was the Chippewa name for Lake Superior or the Big Sea Water.

Pictured Rocks Seashore is a beautiful place on an exquisite lake….a place I’ve visited many times since the ancestral home of my father is quite near the area and is itself near the shores of Gitche-Gumee.

Here is The Song of Hiawatha, compliments of YouTube:

 

*Image by Laurel Gillespie 2014