Do I Wail or Whine About Empty Nest Syndrome?

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Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf published the week of June 16, 2014 in http://www.albertleatribune.com and the Courier Sentinel

Whining and wailing were the words that were the topic of a discussion recently on a Facebook page of writers. We were all listing our pet peeves about writing and the words that are over used in books.

For instance, I have a habit of writing the way I talk. I say “so” and “that” often and other words I use that do not contribute to the story and bog it down with extra words. Thank goodness for editors that — I mean, who — occasionally take me to task for adding those words.

This day the discussion centered around books where people used the word “wailed,” which means to make a mournful cry or a high-pitched noise. The other word in the discussion was whining, used in books to describe a character or what the character is saying. There are characters that whine through the entire book.

As I was taking part in this discussion I realized I have been whining quite a bit lately. I have been whining about wanting to move closer to my children who are the parents of my grandchildren. I have been whining about being closer to a coffeehouse so I do not have to drive 20 miles to have my latte and pull out my computer to write. There is something about coffeehouses that sparks the creativity in me.

I have thought that my whining was actually about living in a bigger city. After spending a busy weekend with my family, and in a bigger community, I realized that perhaps my whining was more about still suffering from empty-nest syndrome. That realization was a surprise to me since I haven’t had any children in that nest for at least 15 years.

I have settled into a routine: Watch my own television programs, hibernate in the winter and do the normal everyday things. What I have come to realize is that if I don’t have frequent contact with people younger than me, I get more set in my ways and I feel older. If I don’t physically engage in conversation with young minds, my world doesn’t expand as much. There is so much to be learned from the youth of today.

It seems that if there are no young people in my home, it is easier to not take part in the youth activities in my community. If I don’t have a connection with a young person, then even though I may go to those activities, I am still a bystander. Where there is no encouragement to take part it is easier to settle into a shuttered life.

Visiting the city I also recognize the opportunities there are for older people. You can get lost in a big city, too, but there are also senior community groups such as the one at the Chaska Community Center that are active daily, have weekly activities and trips long and short each week.

The seniors have their own part of the building and daily there is something happening for older adults to get out and socialize with others of their age and also with the younger people in and about the community center.

I like being part of a small close-knit community where neighbors help neighbors. That is the richness of living in a small town. If I walk out my door I can guarantee that no matter where I go in my community I will meet someone I know. I like the quietness of a small town and I can wallow in that quietness, perhaps too much.

So I have been whining, caught between the richness of my community, and a place where I have lived most of my life, and wanting to expand my world to try the big city and all it offers.

Family is a big part of that exploring the big city feeling for me. It is about empty-nest syndrome and missing watching my children’s plays and basketball games. I am missing the daily rush to get done with supper and get the kids where they need to be for their schedules. It is missing what I learned each day from my children. It is missing the cute stuff they say and the laughter of having a family in the house.

Those of us who have children have all went through it. I can’t imagine I am the only mom who is the age I am and still missing the daily grind with kids. Perhaps it is about remembering my youth and the family that I was surrounded by, aunts, uncles, cousins and missing that connection, too.

Do I wallow and whine and wail or do I accept where I am placed? Do I, or I should say we, the other half of the empty-nest syndrome person, spread our wings and move closer to our kids and grandkids so we can enjoy the hustle and bustle of their sports, their music, their young lives?

I have to think, like the dialogue in a book, that my whining and wailing is getting repetitive. Is it time to edit the dialogue of my life?

What You Don’t See During a Television Sports Broadcast.

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imageWe live in an ever expanding world because of technology. Occasionally it is good for all generations to reach out of our rural area and look beyond what is offered in small communities for jobs and to make connections with people whose experiences are much different than ours in the rural community. Doing this occasionally offers us insight, energizes us and gives us new understanding of what is available for the younger generation leaving the rural area.

Watching sports on television is a pastime for many people on a daily basis. It is easy to sit back in our recliners and cheer on our favorite teams. We see and hear the announcers, we watch and listen to the players without a second thought as to what it takes to produce a live game. Many people behind the scenes work hard day in and day out to see that our viewing pleasure is not disrupted by glitches. Timya Owen is one of those people.

Timya Owen, lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and works as a stage manager for broadcast sports productions. This is how Owen describes her job, “My job is to facilitate communications between the producer and the broadcast booth or studio. We make sure everything is in place for the broadcast, keep the talent informed and supply them copy to read as needed. We are often called upon to run camera, adjust lighting, troubleshoot audio issues, etc. We also wrangle players for interviews and guests who might be scheduled on the set. “
Owen has been working in this field for approximately 15 years. She was working at the local PBS station in St. Paul when Minnesota got the NHL Franchise (the Minnesota Wild) and there was a need for crew to cover coinciding broadcasts. Because Owen loved sports, someone suggested she apply when there was an opening. “It was a natural fit and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Owen is an independent contractor. There are several crewers in the area who have lists of names that call when an event requires a broadcast crew. I also get direct calls from ESPN, Big Ten Network, CBS, NBC, etc. when they need someone. Once you’re on the list, you just have to wait for the calls.”

Television viewers see a little of what goes on behind the scenes to get a game on the air. Owen expanded on that during her interview. “Viewers would be amazed at what goes into a broadcast. Some are fairly simple, but there are events that require multiple trucks and dozens of crew, several days to set up cameras and audio. In the trucks, you have producers, directors, audio guys, video tape replay guys … they are the unsung heroes. Those replays and roll-outs of highlights, all done on the fly while trying to capture a game that is still happening. I’m amazed by them. Out in the arena or stadium, there are camera guys, utilities, more audio people, sometimes makeup artists, talent, statisticians, and of course, the stage managers. Multiply it by two, because usually there’s a full crew for home and visiting teams. Add another crew if the event is also being broadcast nationally (ESPN or any national broadcaster). I haven’t even started on the in-house crew which puts the show and the crowd on the jumbotron for the folks in the stands.”
Owens hours vary from weekends to evenings. When asked about glitches that the viewer’s sometimes see or don’t see, she laughs, “Hah! Most glitches you will see or hear at home. But things only we know about….talent taking a tad too long in the restroom during a commercial break, monitors failing so that talent are describing a replay they can’t actually see, guests not showing up for interviews. I have one announcer who gets goosed by a player at every game. No names…. Lol.
Timya Owen grew up as an Air Force brat and lived all over the world, Florida, Morocco, California, Texas, Cape Cod and ended up in Minnesota. Besides her love of sports, Owen is also a writer and interested in Native American History.

She is currently working on a Cozy Mystery Series called The Fernbridge Mysteries. The mysteries take place in the Victorian Village of Ferndale in Northern California. “At this point, I’m leaning towards self-publishing, but I would love to have Cozy Cat Press accept my cozy mystery.”
When asked about her interest in Native American History she explained what sparked that interest, “I’ve been interested in native rights since the 80’s. I was active with the American Indian Movement for years through their AIM Patrol. We would patrol troubled neighborhoods in South Minneapolis in the evenings, provide security for community events, etc. I met my husband (who is Dakota from a small reservation near Red Wing) at a traditional pow wow when his dad invited us into their home for a meal. We half joke that his dad knew we were meant to be together.”
Owen offers a little advice to younger people thinking about getting into the technical part of the sports broadcast business.
“It’s really just common sense and intuition. You have to stay focused and listen to constant chatter on headsets while trying to keep your talent happy and informed. Being a people person helps, but you need to know when to back off. Every broadcast team is different. Some guys can joke around right up until air time and others need to be left alone to study game notes and player profiles. Don’t be affected by celebrity. That’s a tough one for me because I have many sports heroes.”
“Be willing to start at the bottom. Take whatever work you can get and work hard. You’ll be noticed and recommended for future jobs because the crew will know you can be counted on. Watch, listen, ask questions and be the first to admit if you don’t know how to do something. Our guys are great and they’re more than happy to share their knowledge.”
Think of Timya Owen the next time you turn on your television or computer and watch network sports. Imagine all that is going on in the background to bring you the best for your viewing pleasure. Sit back in your chair, root for your team and know that the production crew has got it covered.

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Living An Ordinary Life? Never.

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Archie Baumann was born in a log cabin in Bagley, Minnesota in Clearwater County. You might ask Archie Baumann? Who is Archie Baumann?archie and vi
Archie Baumann is one of those people who has lived an ordinary life. He is one of those people who normally doesn’t make the newspaper, but there is a story in every life, and this is Archie Baumann’s story.
Baumann grew up in Bagley, Minnesota. His mother died when he was five years old and his grandfather lost the family farm in 1936. Times were hard. Archie didn’t go to high school. He went to CCC Camps which stand for Civilian Conservation Corp.
Civilian Conservation Corps began March 31, 1933 and was particularly active in Minnesota. Men 18 – 25 years old could enlist in CCC Camps and work in a military style environmental camp. Enlistees were paid $30 a month to build roads, plant trees, hang telephone line and learn vital job skills.
According to Baumann $25.00 went back to your family and people got to keep $5.00 to spend any way they wanted. It was here that Archie started his hobby of drawing cartoons. He still has the first cartoon he created for the Deer Lake Echo, the camp newspaper. The camp was in Effy, Minnesota. The cartoons were printed on a mimeograph, a low cost printing press that works by forcing ink through a stencil.
As America was coming out of the depression, Baumann moved to Cleveland, Ohio to work in a Steel Mill. That is where Archie and Violet began their love story. Although Archie and Violet both grew up in Bagley, Violet commented “We didn’t chum together.” Violet also moved to Cleveland to work in a battery factory and according to both of them “It was a whirlwind courtship.”
Archie knew he was going to be drafted into the Army and he didn’t want to be drafted from Cleveland. He wanted to enlist in the Navy and move back to Bagley before he did this. He and Violet decided to get married. They visited the library to find the closet county to Cleveland that would marry them without a waiting period. They found that county and drove to Cumberland, Maryland from Cleveland to get married.
Any wedding can’t happen without a couple of stories. Along the way Archie and Violet picked up a hitchhiker. Archie describes that experience. “This is one of the fun things that happened on the trip. It was a hot July day. We decided to pick up a hitchhiker. In those days it wasn’t unusual to find hitchhikers and to pick one up. He was a smart aleck, he knew everything. I was getting tired of it and his hat blew out the window. So I pulled over and let him go get his hat. He got out and went back to get his hat and I took off. I suppose he’s still waiting out there.” Baumann finished the story with a chuckle.
Archie related another story that happened on their way back to Cleveland after their wedding. “One of the first things I learned after getting married was that I didn’t know how to feed a bride. She got hungry as we were driving back to Cleveland. I stopped at a little Pa and Ma gas station and picked up what I thought would be a nice little lunch – bananas and orange pop. That didn’t go good at all. And I haven’t cooked a meal since.”
After the wedding, the Baumann’s moved back to Bagley where Archie enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed in Okinawa and was on the island when the United States dropped the bombs on Hiroshima.
After the Navy, Baumann came back to Bagley to raise his family with his wife Violet. They have five children, Karen, Debbie, Kay, Connie and Dennis, 14 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Bauman commented that they have 50 direct descendants.
Baumann worked various jobs over the years but his 20 year stint at the Minnesota Farmer’s Union gave him the readers for his cartoons, which were published in the Farmer’s Union Newspaper. That also led to his cartoons being featured in the Minnesota Senior News and the Minnesota Board of Aging. Archie’s love of cartooning, continued long after he retired, publishing his cartoons in his own books for his family and friends.
After retirement, the Baumann’s moved to Wells and spent many hours volunteering for the Wells Area Food Shelf and helping in the community. They now reside in Janesville.
Baumann has never taken any art classes but his self-taught skill is evident in his cartoons whose subjects range from editorial comments to parenting and family. His favorite cartoon is one of two little boys in front of the television watching the six o’clock news. One boy says to the other boy: “If the President would send our Grandmother over there, they would stop fighting.”
Archie commented, “Drawing was fun. Thinking of new ideas was the tough part.”
Although Archie’s hands have stiffened and slowed and drawing is harder now, the ideas still come strong into his mind and he will leave behind a legacy of cartoons and ideas that will live on forever.
When asked to sum up his life, it wasn’t a final comment about his talent; it was a comment of love for this country. “One thing I say about my life is that the last 90 years I have been around have been the best 90 years for the country, in spite of the depression and all the other hazards and wars. We’ve got a pretty good life in this country.”