Something "Iowa" Worth Celebrating

A friend shared this recent Iowa City Press Citizen editorial with me, and I think it deserves to be more widely shared and celebrated (and brought to the attention of my children and others who read this blog).

Elaine Eschman & Sarah Riley, Guest Opinion, Iowa Has a Long, Proud History of Civil Rights

Press Citizen 10/26/09

Rarely is Iowa considered a trendsetter. Traditionally, the latest fashion trends and popular movements begin on the east or west coasts and slowly work their way to Iowa. But when it comes to civil rights, how many of us realize that Iowa sets the curve?

It's true. Before our state was even born the high court of the Iowa territory established an atmosphere of equality for residents of this state.

It began in 1839, seven years before our statehood, when a Missouri slave owner attempted to seize a former slave named Ralph who had come to find work in Iowa with his permission. The Iowa justice system thwarted the Missouri slave owner's effort. Our territorial Supreme Court ruled that equal treatment under the law extended to "men of all colors and conditions." Iowa's highest court came to this decision 17 years before the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Dred Scott decision.

In 1868, 12-year-old Susan Clark was denied admission to an Iowa grammar school -- just because she was black. Again, our courts intervened. Iowa schools were legally integrated after the Iowa Supreme Court declared, "All youth ... equal before the law." It took the United States Supreme Court 86 more years to reach the same conclusion in the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education decision.

In 1869 Arabelle Mansfield was admitted to the practice of law in Iowa. She was the first woman in the country to become a licensed attorney. In many states, laws prevented women from practicing law -- but not Iowa.

In 1873, a black teacher from Illinois was traveling by steamboat through Iowa. Despite having a first class dining ticket Northwest Union Packet denied her access to the boat's dining room because of the color of her skin. What did our courts say about such segregation? They called it "gross injustice" -- "positive wickedness." Rosa Parks had not even been born.

This month a sculpture will be dedicated on the Iowa Supreme Court grounds in Des Moines. Its purpose: to commemorate our tradition of groundbreaking civil rights decisions. The sculpture is aptly named, "Shattering Silence." It is aptly timed, too -- right on the heels of yet another landmark civil rights decision, the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Varnum v. Brien.

A precedent of justice and equal treatment for all Iowans was set by our courts 170 years ago, and it continues through our courts today. We should be proud of Iowa's leadership in the field of civil rights -- even if our decisions go against the grain. Because while we may not all be trend setters in high fashion, we have our civil rights and if history repeats itself, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will, too.

Elaine Eschman and Sara Riley are practicing attorneys in Ft. Madison and Cedar Rapids, respectively. They are members of the Board of Governors of the Iowa Association for Justice.

What's Up!

I don't have any pictures to post just now, but I thought I might just provide a little update on what is going on with us.

It is a good thing for you that I don't have pictures of Josey to post at the moment. She is getting better, but it is slow going, and the process of healing for her wounds is not pleasant to be around. Some of the wounds were so deep that there has been lots of drainage, and there are two or three large (size of my open hand or so) areas where things will get worse before they get better. In those places, there are large patches of skin that are dying and will have to be removed, leaving new open sores for awhile. The vet says it will be Christmas or later before we even begin to see a more normal dog. Still, she is eating and drinking water, and she very much appreciates the attention she is getting.

We are in WI right now, and it is snowing this morning. We came up here two days ago. The foliage is still pretty, though the reds are mostly gone and the peak shows are long gone. We are here to button up for winter, though that doesn't mean we won't be back for some skiing or other winter fun early in the new year. The hot tub has been winterized and covered with a tarp. The canoes have been carried up from the lake and put away. This morning, a neighbor will help me pull the dock and boat lift from the water and up onto shore for the winter. Later, I intend to put some deer fences around a couple of new plantings. Unfortunately, they already ravaged our sumac and chewed up my new Japanese lilac tree. I think they will both recover next spring though. We will put mulch over our flower beds sometime in the next few days. The boat needs to be washed, as the bottom gets brown from being in the lake most of the summer. I also need to winterize the boat motor, which involves oil changes, lubrication, spraying oil vapor into the cylinders, etc. I'll carry its batteries into the basement to keep them from freezing over the winter.

We will return to IA late next week in time to celebrate Kathie's birthday and attend a football game. I've returned to woodworking projects at home and have completed making a card table for our sunporch. Three other projects are well underway too, but they are gifts, so I won't describe them here just now--maybe later. Two of the gifts gave me a chance to start working with that kauri wood that I described a couple of blog posts ago. Working with a different kind of wood is always interesting, since each type responds in a different way to being cut, smoothed, joined, glued, and finished. For example, the kauri is a bit brittle, so extra care when cutting is important to make sure that edges remain smooth and crisp and do not shatter. But it does smooth and polish in amazing ways, and early indications are that the finishing is really going to bring out that luminescence for which the wood is famous.

Finally, an interesting event took place at our favorite Hayward grocery store recently. A bear wandered into the grocery and spent some time in the liquor store area.

You can read one of the local news stories about this event here. Some of you will remember the old Hamms beer commercials that featured a cartoon bear who promoted the brand. So, some folks claimed the bear was looking for Hamms beer. I guess automatic doors can't tell the difference between a human and a bear, so they opened right up and welcomed him in when he came near the entrance. Hibernation in a liquor store!? Now that's an interesting idea.

Josey's Woes

In her lifetime, Josey has done battle with ticks and lyme disease, a skunk, several raccoons, and a porcupine. Scars on her nose already made her look like the proverbial junkyard dog. Yesterday, she added another battle to the list.

In a completely uncharacteristic way, she chose to wander into the yard of our neighbor to the south (straight behind our house)--something she has never done before. Then, to top that off, she wandered into their garage, evidently through an open door or a dog door. Therein she encountered the Husky that we have known to be a less than friendly dog, based on its having previously attacked the very small dog belonging to a different, previous neighbor, nearly killing it in the process, when it stepped briefly into the Husky's yard. Ever since, we have been extra cautious when grandkids or our children's small dogs are here to make sure they stay away from that neighbor's yard.

Kathie and I were sitting in our library yesterday morning when we heard a vigorous pounding on one of our sunporch doors. When I opened the door, our clearly upset neighbor was shouting, "Come get your dog! She was in my garage!" Josey was coming up behind her showing lots of red on her ruff and on other areas of her body. Kathie glanced at her and immediately decided to take her to the veterinarian.

Much later in the day, Josey was picked up and returned home. Kathie had tearfully called me from the vet's office to say that she was much worse than anticipated and to warn me that I should expect her not to look very good when she got home. Nearly $1,000 of medical attention found that she had been bitten all across her back, along her stomach and groin area, on each rear leg, across her throat and ears, and into each front armpit area. She has been shaved to expose areas requiring attention and has received lots of stitches, drainage tubes, and antibiotics.

I carried her into the house using her car mat as a kind of sling. Josey hasn't moved very much since, although I think she seems more alert this morning. She wagged her tail when I came downstairs and welcomed the cookie I usually give her first thing each day. Last night, after Kathie went upstairs to bed, Josey even got up to look up the stairs--she clearly wanted to go to bed, as she usually does, and to be with her mistress. However, I prevented her from trying and made a bed for her at the bottom of the steps, where she spent the night.

Here is an idea of some of the damage.

This picture doesn't show much damage, but you can see how she feels.

We don't know what the Husky looks like post-battle, and we trust our neighbor wasn't hurt badly. She said she had a small cut on one hand but that it wasn't a big deal. I believe the Husky may have suffered a bite in one ear. In retrospect, we are glad she was home to put a stop to the dog fight, or we might reporting an even sadder tale about Josey. Although it is true that she has almost never left our yard, we are guilty of having failed to keep her invisible fence collar on her routinely. I think I'll revisit that situation!