The right thing

Officials at my alma mater late last week announced that a scholar of controversial background would be speaking on campus in November.

And then -- about 24 hours later -- they cancelled his appearance after much public outcry.

William Ayers about six months ago was probably not a common name. He is now, though, because of the connection presidential candidate Barack Obama has had with him in the past. They served together on the board of a Chicago group that works on welfare reform, affordable housing and reducing poverty.

John McCain and others have mentioned Ayers repeatedly in an attempt to discredit Obama and his associates.

Ayers in the 1960s and 70s did some bad things in protest of the Vietnam War. He bombed public buildings -- major ones. And fairly recently, he was quoted as saying he wished they'd done more to protest the war.

I do not agree with violent protests, even if the sentiment is anti-war.

I'm not for bombing. I'm a pacifist. I don't even like it when my 3-year-old pretends to shoot toy guns or hits his dad when they're wrestling.

But I'm also for free speech.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Education had invited Ayers, an education expert who teaches at the University of Illinois-Chicago, to speak to graduate students as part of the college's anniversary celebration.

He was invited back in February.

University officials sent out a press release about Ayers' appearance, though, after reporters noticed his name on a calendar.

And then all hell broke loose.

There were parents threatening to pull their students from school if Ayers was allowed to come. The governor urged the Board of Regents to pull the plug. Many of the Regents publicly decried the university's invitation. One even compared it to inviting Osama bin Laden to campus. Even the NU president, while citing the need for free speech and a free sharing of ideas, said he thought it'd be best for Ayers' not to come.

My guess is the final blow was when donors -- big ones - started threatening to withhold money from NU.

In the end, the chancellor said it was a safety threat that prompted officials to cancel his talk. They'd gotten enough e-mails and phone calls, officials said, that they couldn't ensure the safety of Ayers or folks at his talk.

That might be true, maybe a little bit. But I'm not really buying it.

And it's unfortunate that at a public university, a place of learning and discourse and growing and at least hearing all sorts of views about subjects, we would disinvite someone who has valuable knowledge and experience -- whether you agree with it or not -- to the table.

UNL has played it safe, I guess, and maybe that's the smart thing.

But what about the right thing?

The silent partner

My husband seldom wants things.

Besides beer, he hardly ever buys anything for himself.

So when he began talking about the iPod touch for weeks without end, I finally said, "Why don't you just go ahead and get it?"

The original plan had been to ask for money for Christmas from the various sets of parents. But it became apparent that he shouldn't have to wait that long. Seriously, I heard about the Touch ("It's got all these games -- like air hockey! You like air hockey, right?") just about every day.

So about two weeks ago, thank God, he ordered it. And in true Dane fashion, he saved 10 percent and avoided all sales tax by ordering it from Amazon.com. A savings of about $30. Great, except it meant he had to wait two agonizing weeks for the king of all grown-up toys to arrive.

Today, it came.

I got home from the gym after work and rather than a greeting, I got: "Look."

And, yes, lo and behold, there it was, on the living room floor, plugged in in all its glory to our laptop.

Hallelujah, a new day has begun.

So tonight, we've played air hockey (I beat the computer 7-6, thank you very much), waved it around while it made light saber noises (a true hit with Rye, who actually instructed me how to do this within a minute of my arrival home), played Labrynth (you remember - this is where you maneuver a ball through a maze without letting it drop into a hole. Just now, Dane said, "OK, I just have to stop. This is getting stressful!") and bowled. Dane has also done a myriad of other things, I'm sure, like check his e-mail, comment on friends' Facebook statuses, visit Huskerpedia, plan our retirement ... I'm thinking there is no end to what the Touch can do.

Earlier, he said, "You're never going to hear me talk again."

Hmm.

I didn't sign up for that, but I am glad the grown-up boy in our house finally has a really sweet toy.

Mostly better

I feel the need to post a short update after last night's woe-is-me post. (I apologize for that, by the way. I just couldn't help it).

Tonight, though, I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better.

Work was productive today and largely uninterrupted. And the best part: I got to eat lunch with my best friend, who was visiting from Connecticut. That was great, but I would have taken more time to just be like that again.

Tonight, after supper, Rye and I played outside until the light faded, forcing us in. We ran races around the backyard, fought bad guys with a fly swatter (me) and a wooden sword (him) and built castles in the sand. The lingering warmth this fall made that doable. And I'm already sad that within a few weeks, the early dark and the cold will probably make evenings outside undoable.

Still, like lunch with Alexa, I'll take what I can get.

Happy weekend.

Ah-choo!

I have a dreadful, dreary cold. You know, one of those full-blown colds that makes your head hurt, your eyes water and your nose completely full, so full that you have to leave your mouth slightly ajar to breathe.

I hate this.

I went to bed at 9:30 last night, hoping that a lot of sleep would make me miraculously better. And I did feel better today, a bit.

But now, I feel awful again.

And I still have bath time and bed time looming.

Plus, I have to watch The Office tonight, too (no, that is not a bad thing, but it will push bedtime later).

I just want to feel better.

Ah, the pumpkin patch

We braved the busiest pumpkin patch in Omaha yesterday for an outing with Rye's daycare. And despite how crazy it has seemed some years, last night was really fun.

We met at 5 and then gathered around a campfire to cook hot dogs -- and later s'mores. Then we rode a train around part of their farm, attempted to jump on a giant inflatable "pillow" in the ground, looked at bunnies and then took a 15-minute or so hayrack ride to the pumpkin patch itself.

It was dark by the time we got on the tractor-pulled hayrack, and just a little bit chilly. We spotted the big dipper through the clouds and the sliver of a moon. Rye curled up against me, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd fallen asleep.

Once in the field of pumpkins, we tried to find a few "wee little ones" in short order. We did fairly well with that and then enjoyed an equally long hayrack ride back.

Perhaps Rye's favorite part was the $1 glow necklace we bought next. Back at the campfire, he and his friends -- who also had one -- pretended they were Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting with their light sabers. The light-up novelties served a practical purpose, too -- in the almost pitch black, they were illuminated name tags for our children.

Here are some more photos:

"All aboard!"


It's the giant pumpkin, Charlie Brown!


On the hay-rack ride

Eco-conscious

I stopped by one of Omaha's largest consignment sales twice last week -- on opening day and again on the final day when most items are half off. Basically, they are giant garage sales filled with nothing but children's things.

They're generally great.

This year was no exception. On Saturday, for example, I got 17 articles of clothing for $25. Great.

So I brought one of my reusable bags to the sale to put items in as I went along, and when I checked out I assumed I could put my things back in there after the price tags had been removed.

Two junior high-age girls were helping me and when one reached for a plastic bag, I said, "Oh, I've got my own bag."

She sort of paused and looked at her friend and then down at the plastic bag in her hand.

"I think we have to use this bag," she said.

Hmm.

No, that's ridiculous, I thought.

So I said, "Well, I'd really rather use my own bag."

And finally they gave in, warning me they'd have to tie the neon green ribbon to the handles of my bag then to prove I'd paid.

No problem, I said. And then I added, "I'm trying to save the environment by using my own bags."

I smiled.

And they just looked at me, blankly.

Troubling.

Outdoor fun

We've been taking advantage of the summer-like fall.

Yesterday, we spent a couple hours at a pumpkin patch that was fun and super low-key. We crossed paths with maybe 10 other people the entire time. They had animals -- goats, horses, sheep, chickens, llamas, bunnies, plus a pet dog and cat -- and an assortment of other kitschy Halloweeny-type stuff. Rye's favorite part was the pit filled with feed corn that we jumped into over and over again.

We also took the hayrack ride to the pumpkin patch. And though it wasn't technically a patch -- they had obviously picked the pumpkins from elsewhere and placed them in this well-kept grassy field -- we still got the feel of picking our own pumpkins. Plus, Rye didn't know the difference. We picked two pumpkins to take home.

Rye also got his face painted for the first time ever. He choose a witch and it turned out really great, but he was being shy about it after the fact.

Last weekend, we went to a place called Fontenelle Forest, in Bellevue, about a 25-minute drive from our house. Even though it was "free day" and therefore packed with people, it was really cool. The highlight was a brand new outdoor nature classroom, which was the coolest I've ever seen. And the trees, of course, were amazing.

Here are some more photos of the pumpkin patch:





And from Fontenelle Forest: