Writing

The summer season is my time to do writing. I have been a university department chair for 9 years and have one more year in that capacity. It has cut into my writing time during the academic year, so I look forward to having the opportunity to write in the summer. Knowing that I only have 1 year left as a department chair, and have less responsibility this year, I’m hoping I can find more time to write.

A big part of the writing is the research that precedes it. I didn't always understand the research side of writing, but I have certainly gained an appreciate for its importance. I am currently working on three different research projects, they are all related, but a little different. I won’t go into those topics, as I am probably the only one reading this blog who cares. However, it’s the research that I love the most. I certainly enjoy the writing, especially when I see the published project. When I’m writing I experience, what we call in leisure, “flow,” or the complete engagement in the activity which blocks out everything else - what Maslow calls creativity.

The research, however, involves the fun of discovery. I enjoy getting into a project, doing the research, and trying to create something new. Every once in a while we hit on a new topic that sets us off on a new or expanded research project. I frequently read 50 plus research articles just to find the information I need and to build my background knowledge.

The real challenge comes when I start to put the article together. Usually I write a number of long memos on the topic that sometimes exceed the article’s limit by 5,000 to 10,000 words. Even after we get the article written, we rewrite it 6 or more times before it goes to the publisher and then another 1 to 3 times after it gets to the publisher. Yet, when it comes out in print or on-line, I gain a sense of accomplishment. It doesn’t help my humility problem.

I like the challenge of writing a research article, based either on research we completed or the theoretical foundation of the research. As authors, we have a lot of interplay with how the research and writing fit, and what the final product will look like. When you have 2 or more authors it provides more opportunity for insight, but also is challenging to give coherence and continuity to the writing.

When I’m writing a book, and I only do that with other people I know and trust, we spend a lot of time on the outline and then constantly review the chapters we are writing to make sure we are on target and that our outline is being followed. It can be easier to write a book because you don’t have to write as tightly as an article, but you still have to know our audience and write to their level. The last couple of editions of one of my books, I have tried to insert photos of our family, and have been successful. The next edition will have an interesting family photo I will write about, only if it makes it in the book.

If you would have asked me 40 years ago if I was a writer I would have said, “no way.” Yet, after years of practice and refinement I’ve gotten better, but I’ll never write the great American novel, that’s not my style of writing. But I do enjoy the chance to write this blog. It is an outlet that renews me and allows me to get back to my other writing.

A quilter's husband

Over the last 20 years JoAnn has become more and more involved in quilting. I think it is great because she is so creative and she loves doing it. I think we have lost count of the number of quilts she has made and given away. However, if 40 years ago someone would have told me my wife was going to be a quilter I would have laughed. And yet over these years I've watched her grow, gain confidence, and serve as an inspiration and teacher for others. She is just awesome.

We are fortunate to currently live near several quilt stores, but when we lived in Terre Haute, IN we drove 20 miles to Paris, IL to her favorite quilt shop. That was when I learned to always bring a book along and to look for a Dairy Queen. Personally, I think there should be a law that all quilt shops have a DQ within 200 feet. When we are on the road we can almost always find a quilt shop. We have found them in Williams, AZ, Ventura, CA, Reno, NV, Boise, ID, St. Louis, MO, San Diego, CA and many other places. It's almost like they are a magnet for us. It's not always JoAnn that finds them. I'm as good at it as she is. Now I bring along a book, my computer, iPhone, and iPod. I can sit in the back seat of the car, listen to my kind of music (mostly classical) and get all kinds of work done. I always anticipate at least 60 minutes of quiet time.

We found this quilt store in Williams, AZ when I left the interstate to stop for gas and thought we would tour their downtown. It only took 40 minutes for gas (okay for looking at quilt material), but then, I wasn't in a hurry. I don't think I'm allowed to be in a hurry when we are within 10 miles of a quilt shop.


As I walked around the house today I realized just how much quilting has become part of our decor. Granted, the girls just left last Sunday and JoAnn has had a busy week, but we have at least 3 quilts in progress. All are from last weekend. For those who don't understand how quilting takes over I thought I would take you on a tour. That's our futon, or was until it became a quilt staging area.


The quilt shop is the hub of all of our operations. Usually the sewing machine is in here, but when she is in certain stages of construction the sewing machine goes elsewhere.


I'm told we don't have much material, but I reorganized a whole closet just for the material. It is all organized by color. I call this area the quilter's candy. Last weekend when the girls were here it seemed that every time I went by the quilt shop there were 2 or more girls in there fondling the quilt candy. Of course, as JoAnn says, that's what it is for.


We have a wrap-around couch and futon in the living room. Right now they are quilt staging areas. You will note the quilt squares all look similar. Each of the girls made a quilt square, including JoAnn (that totals 8 squares) and then most of them made their own 9th square. Here you see the whole couch and futon are converted to staging areas.


Finally, we have the dining room table, or more appropriately the large quilt sewing area. I'm pretty sure we had a meal on that table in that location at least once, but I can't be sure. In JoAnn's defense I also use it as a meeting table when I have colleagues over, so it's really a multi-use table.


Being a quilter's husband is less of a challenge than it is an opportunity. I've learned more about quilts than I ever thought that I would, or even thought I wanted to. Yet I can talk to JoAnn about a log cabin design, or color matching, etc. It's almost scary.

Who Let her Grow Up?

One of the great mysteries of fathers is how their cute daughters can grow up, mature, marry, and have children. However, much as we resist it, we somehow adjust to all of those changes when the grandchildren start showing up, especially granddaughters. You know everything will be okay again, because there is another generation of little girls. In my mind I was sure these girls would never grow up. That is until now. I received the following picture yesterday from our 2nd daughter, Jeni, and it is of our oldest granddaughter on her way to a 6-stake dance (that's a church dance with hundreds of youth and you have to be 14).

I received the photo yesterday evening, took one look at Alyssa (on the left) and thought to myself, this can't be happening again. And yet it is. Grandpa's are inherently selfish when it comes to daughters and granddaughters. We love them at any age, but we remember all the sweetness of being young and while the sweetness doesn't go away, it's harder to hold them close and cuddle them. Of course, it's not like this grandpa doesn't have plenty of little girls to hug and sometimes hold, he does, but they too, all too soon become independent and while Grandpa (and of course Grandma) is still important in their lives, it's just not the same. And that is as it should be. We love them at all ages and enjoy, often vicariously, their experiences.

It's great being a Grandpa and watching your grandchildren grow up, being part of their lives, and just watching each family mature spiritually and physically. It leaves a warm glow at the end of the day.

End of the Season

It's the end of the season. Students are taking finals, graduation is scheduled for Saturday afternoon and then summer officially begins. Who cares what the calendar says, when classes are over, faculty are on leave, emails drop to almost zero - that's the REAL start of summer.


We held our last faculty meeting of the academic year - another sure sign of summer - and we won't have another one for 3 months and 2 weeks (not like I'm counting). I do love the academic year because it is so full of vitality, energy, and enthusiasm (the latter for the first 9 weeks of the semester). But today, as the semester winds down, we see students excited about summer internships, faculty making plans for travel, and of course writing.

In some ways the time between graduation and the start of the fall semester is the writing season. Every year I find myself busy with multiple writing projects. This writing season I am focusing on a new edition of my entry level textbook, and no, I don't write it alone. I discovered a long time ago it is a lot more efficient to write a book with colleagues you know and trust. I enjoy the writing, the planning, and especially finishing the book. There is a sense of accomplishment when it all comes together and you see it in print for the first time. Yes, I suppose it could be pride, but I try to hold that down.

It is the writing that I enjoy, painful as it is, and for me writing can be a slow and tedious process. What I enjoy is the research, gathering sorting, and organizing material to put in the book. It is a chance to catch up on what I see as new. It is a learning process, and I enjoy learning.

As the academic season closes the writing season opens and I have pen, paper, computer, and googlescholar in hand and am ready to go.

Mom Can ALWAYS Find It!

We are in Modesto at my sister's home for the weekend. They have a beautiful place in the country and we are in the "guest house" (eat your heart out folks). We heard a phone ring while we were sitting and relaxing. I got up to answer it, but after 2 rings it quit. That was insufficient time for me to find it. A while later it rang again - only 2 rings. I figured my sister was picking up in the house. No, we get a knock on the door and her husband comes in and he starts rummaging through the shelves by the video surveillance (no, not of us). It turns out the ringing was his cell phone. He is on his way out and needs it. He calls it again, but no ring. He points up and says it is up there (about 7 feet off the ground). We are looking. JoAnn says, what color is it? "Black," is Mike's response. Still no ring. Then JoAnn points on the waist high counter between the roles of toilet paper and the baby car seat and says, "There it is."

What can I say, it's just like riding a bike - you never forget how. And now I know it's true, "Mom's really can ALWAYS FIND IT. I stand in humble awe of mothers.

Faces of Eight

I'm not sure what it is about being 8 years old, but I know it is all about fun. Two weeks ago when we were in Utah I took some photos of Cole at his baptism and I recognized a spirit of fun that he obviously enjoys. And he is not alone, his two cousins Alexis and Meagan had the same experiences when it was time for their baptism.


Those who are eight years old are at a tender and challenging age. Actually, I think mothers would suggest every age is challenging, just some ages are more challenging than others. But that's the topic of another post. They are tender in that they are coming out of those baby years and moving into those fast growing years. Over the next 9 or 10 years their mothers are not going to be able to satisfy their hunger or keep them in clothes that fit. And their emotions are on a roller-coaster ride that makes any amusement park look tame. Yes, I am talking about girls too.

So it is important we nurture, guide, encourage, sometimes threaten (but carefully and with love), and help them to grow. It is also important we don't lose that spirit of fun, just as it is important we don't take the fun out of their life. You see, it is the fun that so often makes life enjoyable. I still believe in fun and the importance of it in our lives.

Those faces are a mere representation of the zest they have for life. I love that zest and I love those 8-year olds in our family. The best part is, we have more coming and I'm looking forward to it.

If you are wondering, Meagan can make some great faces, I just didn't catch one.

By the way, to those post 8-year olds in the family - you are still fun too.