Mike Bryson -- 2006 Herald News Columns

Joliet Herald-News Common Sense Columns 200= 6

Mike Bryson

*****

"Treas= ured Woman Will Be Missed"

June 14, 20= 06

Joliet lost a remarkable person this pa= st April when Vera Smith, educator and philanthropist, passed away just two mo= nths shy of her 102nd birthday.

Vera Smith taught generatio= ns of Joliet students, including both of my parents, after putting herself through college at the University of Chica= go. She was a leading benefactor to important local institutions, such as Silver Cross Hospital and the pu= blic library; and she privately provided full college scholarships to many who could not otherwise pursue their studies. In her time Vera became a living legend, th= ough forever modest about her accomplishments, and she'll go down in history as = one of our most treasured citizens.

My understanding of Vera's = legacy, though, starts with a simple loaf of bread.

When Vera was about 14 year= s old, around 1918 or so, her family moved from a Mokena farm to the house on Oneida Street in Joliet where Vera = lived the remainder of her long life. My great-grandmother, Margaret Bryson, lived ju= st around the corner from Vera's family, on May Street. Great-Grandma wanted to welcome the newcomers to the neighborhood, so she baked a fresh loaf of bre= ad and brought it over to Vera's mother as a housewarming present.

That humble gift made a las= ting impression upon Vera and her parents, and started a long friendship between= the families that spanned five generations. Last year I took my three-year-old daughter to visit 101-year-old Vera at her wonderful old house on Oneida. Vera, her = body frail but her eyes sparkling and her brilliant mind fully alive, held court as us= ual in her special living room chair. Books always surrounded her -- I noted she was re-reading Melville's Moby-Dick -- and several favorite classical recor= ds were stacked by her turntable. We talked of present times, old friends, the= history of Joliet, her girlhood experiences.

And then, as I knew would h= appen, she grasped my hand in her firm grip, and began telling me the story of the bread. She would always relate it with great emotion and sincerity, fondly recalling the memory of my great-grandmother whom I never met but feel I kn= ow through this story.

Vera's friendship with and = affection for my family is what will stay with me forever now that's she gone from our midst. Her recognition of the symbolic meaning of a bread loaf, given in a simple gesture of welcome, exemplify her noble character, inherent modesty,= and capacity for love -- traits that define her long and extraordinary life. She was a woman who became almost unimaginably rich in her later years, a person who gave of her money generously and freely -- but of the gifts she receive= d, she always remembered that loaf of bread.

Goodbye, Vera. We'll miss you, but not forget you= .

Joliet resident Mike Bryson is Associate Pro= fessor of Humanities at Roosevel= t University. He can be reached at mbry22@sbcglobal.net.

"The P= lace To Be on Two Wheels"

July 10, 20= 06

&nbs= p; Joliet has a charm= ingly conflicted identity: it's a small town with big city aspirations; or maybe = it's a big city with a small town feel. Actually, both statements ring true, and that civic paradox is one of our community's most appealing attributes.

&nbs= p; While Joliet certainly benefits from its proximi= ty to Chicago, it also r= esides in the long shadow of its broad-shouldered cousin, particularly in terms of cultural and recreational opportunities. But pay attention, Former Hog Butc= her of the World -- there's one area in which Joliet has got you beat, hands down! Yes, the City of Steel<= /st1:City> and Stone is fast becoming a Biking Mecca, and despite Chicago's well-deserved reputation as a bike-friendly big city, Joliet is in many ways a better place to ride.

&nbs= p; After living and biking in the Windy <= st1:PlaceType w:st=3D"on">City for nine years, it was refreshing to find glorious possibilities for two-wheeled commuting and recreation in Joliet when my fam= ily moved back to town in 2005. For one thing, many residential streets are eminently rideable; if you avoid major arteries like Jefferson and Larkin, you can safely cruise city streets without negotiating heavy traffic or getting "doored" by a parallel-parked car.

For another, thanks to visi= onary leadership and voter support, Joliet and <= st1:PlaceName w:st=3D"on">Will County are blessed with 93 miles of trails whose names reflect their geographic and historic diversity: Rock Run, I&M Canal, Joliet Junction, Old Plank Road, Wauponsee Glacial, Joliet Iron Works, Pilcher Park. These well-used yet uncrowded routes provide superb recreation as well as v= ital connections among natural areas, residential communities, and business districts.

I'm fortunate to live in a = central neighborhood where biking feels as natural as breathing. My work commute to= Chicago starts wit= h a quick ride to downtown's Union Station to catch the Rock Island Metra -- a = mere 13 minutes unless I "hit a bridge." I can bike for any number of errands and vital items: hardware, library, groceries, pizza, guitar string= s, barber, ice cream, to name but a few.

My daughter likes to ride to preschool in her special kid seat, which saves me gas money and gives her a chance to show off her cool bike helmet to her cronies. Now that school is = out, we troll for other bike-riding opportunities like zipping to the post offic= e, which turns an annoying driving errand into a mid-day kid adventure / dad workout. During a recent family ride on the I&M Canal Trail between Bra= ndon Lock and Rock Run, we saw wildlife galore, including a groundhog, painted turtles, red-winged blackbirds, a great blue heron, a green heron, and a gr= eat egret.

&nbs= p; So this summer, enjoy one of our area's greatest assets. Get out of the car and get thee to a bike trail!

Joliet resident Mike Bryson rides a four-spe= ed cruiser and can be reached at mbry22@sbcglobal.= net. For local trail maps, see http://ww= w.fpdwc.org/trailmaps.cfm.

"It's = Time To Discuss Growth"

Aug. 11, 20= 06

A recent real estate ad in = the Sunday paper jauntily described how buying property in one of these new Jol= iet-area subdivisions would "Enhance Your Lifestyle." Oh sure, I snickered= -- another example of marketing mumbo jumbo meets New Age nonsense.

Nevertheless, I lingered ov= er the seductive images of homes with their various "appointments" and "amenities." By my second cup of coffee I theorized that the catc= hphrase powerfully expressed a complex if syrupy sweet version of the American Drea= m, a clichéd yet thrilling articulation of suburban home ownership's supp= osedly limitless pleasures.

That same week brought loca= l news reports about the phenomenal population growth in Joliet, whose size has nearly doubled s= ince 1990 and currently stands at an astonishing 146,800

-- the 15th fastest growing city in the nation.

Since birth rates have rema= ined relatively stable and human cloning hasn't yet kicked in on an industrial scale, I figured that lots of folks had moved here from somewhere else, per= haps to enhance their lifestyles in one way or another.

But discussions of Joliet's growth ha= ve been celebratory in tone and sketchy on analysis, and this simplistic treatment troubles me. Lauding growth for growth's sake is a bit like putting a blue ribbon on the biggest zucchini at the state fair. Yes, it's a mighty impressive-looking vegetable; but how does it taste?

Likewise, analysis of Joliet's out-of-control-zucchini growth needs to go beyond gleeful recitations of percentage increases and national rankings. Such rhetoric is symptomatic of mindless civic boosterism as well as our "Supersize Me" culture, where bigger is always better.

Such were my turbulent thou= ghts while flying 500 feet over what's becoming the Greater Joliet Metropolitan Region, where I enjoyed a bird's-eye view from the back seat of a single-en= gine airplane. Floating over the sprawling subdivisions, commercial strips, and construction sites of Will County's far western reaches, I saw the massive transformation of Illinois farmland into Anywhere Suburbia laid out before me like a giant living map.=

I wondered about the people= living and working below. Were their lifestyles enhanced in their new surroundings? Had they discovered a sense of community? Achieved happiness?

Maybe some had. Perhaps oth= ers were miserable. Most likely, a whole variety of experiences were playing out in = that human tapestry. Tenuously airborne, I suddenly realized that my inherent disdain for suburban sprawl's voracious land consumption and cookie-cutter aesthetics had distanced me from the views and impressions of those who liv= ed within it.

And so, an invitation to re= sidents of our fast-growing region's new areas. Tell me about your experiences -- w= hy you moved there, what you like about it, what you would improve. Let's start a deeper and more meaningful discussion about growth, suburban sprawl, and the pursuit of happiness. It'll be a refreshing antidote to those glitzy Sunday morning real estate ads.

Mike Bryson la= nded safely at Joliet Regional Airport and can be reached at mbry22@sbcglobal.net.

"Midew= in Healing Our Land"

Sept. 8, 20= 06

Ten years ago, something tr= uly extraordinary happened here in Will County. An ecologic= al experiment of unprecedented proportions and national significance was creat= ed on the site of the former Joliet Arsenal. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was born.

A vast mosaic of prairie, w= oodland, and wetland covering over 19,000 acres, Midewin is a nature preserve dedica= ted to public education, outdoor recreation, scientific research, and the restoration of one of North America's most threatened landscapes, the tallg= rass prairie.

A quick dose of perspective= : over 99.99 percent of Illinois' original prairie is gone. What remains for the most part are ghostly traces= of the grasslands that once covered almost half the state. Midewin's size make= s it not only the largest tract of tallgrass prairie east of the Mississippi Riv= er but also an ecosystem of unparalleled importance within Chicagoland's urban sprawl, where open space is a precious refuge for wildlife (348 varieties of native plants, 149 kinds of birds, and 16 endangered and threatened species call Midewin home) and a necessary retreat for human inhabitants.

These numbers illustrate Mi= dewin's ecological significance, despite the fact that it's a work in progress rath= er than a finished product. Ironically yet unsurprisingly, very little pristine prairie exists at Midewin. Instead there are croplands, grazing fields for = cattle, ammunition bunkers and other structures, an extensive network of roads and railways, even old home sites -- profound reminders of the place's cultural history of agriculture and weapons production. This legacy is part of the Midewin story, too: the path traveled by humans over the centuries as they interacted with and profoundly changed their environment.

The stewards of Midewin hav= e the daunting yet historic challenge of transforming a scarred landscape into a healthy, fully functioning ecosystem. The ongoing process of land management will teach us much about our ability to bring back an environment to its fo= rmer levels of quality and diversity.

Remarkable progress has bee= n made thus far in only ten years. Many miles of trails are now open for hiking, biking, and wildlife watching; educational and recreational opportunities abound; hundreds of acres are being actively restored to native habitat. Mu= ch of this work has been done by your friends and neighbors: local volunteers = who restore native plant communities, work on trails, remove non-native species, greet and educate visitors, and catalog the area's local history.

This work is a hopeful begi= nning, a fact that hit home during my family's recent visit to Midewin on a drizzly Saturday morning. I watched my four-year-old daughter play near the seedbed= s of native plants, the very place where Midewin's ecological restoration begins, and mentally flashed ahead several decades: she, grown up and matured; the prairie, healed and restored. I also felt the immensely powerful presence of Midewin's past, when herds of bison roamed a wild landscape before the land= 's modern transformation. For me, there is no other place where I can sense the ebb and flow of time more profoundly; where the past, present, and future simultaneously ignite the imagination.

Happy 10th anniversary, Mid= ewin. Many happy returns.

Contact Mike B= ryson at mbry22@sbcglobal.net and find information about Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie at http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp.

"Parkw= ay? I'd Try Another Route"

Oct. 2, 200= 6

Ah, the Prairie Parkway. Sounds like an app= ealing autumn driving route, doesn't it? In reality, it's a proposed multilane sla= sh across the landscape designed to funnel high-speed traffic from one interst= ate exchange to another along the western fringes of Chicagoland's Sprawl. The estimated price tag: at least a billion taxpayer dollars.

It truly peeves me to no en= d when we name a road or a shopping center after something that we've thoughtlessly destroyed. Given the wanton destruction of the Illinois prairie ecosystem t= hese last 150 years, bestowing the "prairie" honorific upon a featurel= ess slab of asphalt is nothing less than outright mockery -- a linguistic distortion akin to calling guided missiles "peacekeepers," or characterizing President Bush's foreign policy as "diplomacy."

Speaking of powerful Republ= icans, the Parkway is the brainchild of House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Yorkville.= He envisions the "outer beltway" connector between I-88 and I-80 as a congestion-easer and powerful economic engine for the still mostly rural counties of Kane, Kendall, and Grundy.

The politically astute Hast= ert has already earmarked $207 million in federal funds for his pet project. On a personal level, Denny has done rather well, too: last year he made a cool $2 million in profit selling land he had purchased in 2002 and 2004 a few miles from the proposed path of the parkway. Nothing illegal was done, mind you; = but talk about a breathtakingly opportunistic transaction. Economic engine, ind= eed!

Trouble is, the road's cited justifications are far from compelling. The first -- that of easing traffic congestion -- is based upon a foolishly misguided assumption. While new roa= ds may in fact lessen traffic volume initially, they almost inevitably attract heavier traffic over time, thereby defeating their original raison d'être.

Of course, this dovetails p= erfectly with the Parkway's real purpose: to stimulate economic development -- and thereby greatly accelerate sprawl -- in an area grappling with the initial effects of urbanization. That spells irrevocable change for the ecological = and social character of the region's expansive farmland, small-town communities, and natural features.

Smack dab in the way of the proposed Parkway are the watersheds of Aux Sable Creek and Big Rock Creek, = two of the most healthy and biologically diverse streams in northeastern Illinois. But wh= y worry about such environmental trivia when there are strip malls to be built?

How about first investigati= ng more practical and cost-effective alternatives? That $207 million could greatly improve the important-yet-somehow-overlooked Illinois 47, a nearby north-south rout= e. Creative regional strategies such as commuter rail could be pursued, rather than clinging to the Big New Road Project as a transportation panacea.

But for that discussion to = happen, public involvement is critical. Visit the Prairie Parkway's official website = as well as that of the Parkway's major grassroots critic, Citizens Against the Sprawlway. Read and comment on the Parkway's forthcoming environmental impa= ct statement. Above all, don't sit lumpishly while a few well-connected politicians ram through a spurious expressway boondoggle with a billion dol= lars of (your) taxpayer money.

In the meantime, I respectf= ully suggest a name change for the proposed expressway. Call it "Hastert's Highway," instead. Still= got that catchy alliteration, and at least it rings true.

Mike Bryson (h= is real name) can be reached at mbry22@sbcglobal.net

"Voter= s Will Steer Our Course"

Nov. 3, 200= 6

The most pressing and vital= issue facing Americans today is not the ethical corruption of big business, the polarizing controversy over gay marriage, or the titillating battle for chi= ld custody fought by a certain Chicago Bears employee named Brian.

No, folks. It's the three-and-one-half year old international travesty called the War in Iraq.

Listen: people are dying in= droves. At last count, 2,808 American soldiers have been killed, and 21,419 have be= en wounded. In October alone, 103 Americans troops died -- the most in a single month since January 2005.

The monetary cost of this w= ar is nothing less than staggering: over $339 billion and increasing by the thousands every minute.

The primary justifications = for this invasion and occupation? Utterly false. No weapons of mass destruction have ever been found, and no clear link has ever been established between the fo= rmer Iraqi power structure and the terrorist attacks on <= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">US soil in 2001.

Meanwhile, Iraq totters on the brink of = civil war. Osama Bin Laden runs free, five years after September 11th. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan have died in a relentless genocide w= hile Washington stand= s idly by, wringing its hands. North Korea smugly celebrates its transformation into a nuclear threat, with nary a shr= ed of fear that the Uni= ted States will do anything but complain.

In short, our diplomatic pr= esence in the world is characterized by blatant hypocrisy and seriously diminished credibility.

With the road ahead in Iraq= looking mighty grim, President Bush tried to explain what he meant by his once-pet phrase, "stay the course," at an Oct. 11th press conference. "Stay the course means keep doing what you're doing. My attitude is, d= on't do what you're doing if it's not working; change."

That's crystal clear, isn't= it? Unfortunately, our verbally-challenged Chief Executive is far more concerned with changing his pre-election rhetoric (such as it is) rather than his war strategy. On Oct. 23rd, the White House announced that it was dropping the phrase "stay the course" because it had begun to smack of stubborn inflexibility instead of strategic rectitude.

But such gestures are merely transparent political moves meant to buttress Dubya's going-nowhere approac= h to Iraq's reconstruction, a process plagued by sectarian violence and cost overruns. =

In his big press conference= last week, the President demonstrated masterful understatement when he soberly enumerated "early setbacks" and "other developments [that] w= ere not encouraging" in Iraq. But he finally got something right: in response to a reporter's question ab= out the significance of the upcoming elections, Bush declared they would repres= ent a referendum on both the state of the economy and the Iraqi War.

Mr. President, for once I a= gree with you. Fellow citizens -- are you listening?

Casualty data are from the US Department of Defense (htt= p://www.defenselink.mil/news); wartime costs from the National Priorities Project (http://nationalprioriti= es.org/). Joliet = resident Mike Bryson can be reached at mbry22@sbcglobal.net.

"Foste= ring a Sense of History"

Nov. 27, 20= 06

For long-suffering and seld= om joyous Cubs fans such as your humble narrator, this between-the-holidays pe= riod is a remarkably pleasant, blessedly angst-free time of year.

The recent big-money signin= gs of dirt-kicking disciplinarian Lou Piniella as manager and All-Universe 40-40-= 40 man Alfonso Soriano to hit leadoff have sent the message that the Cubs want= to win -- now, for Santo's sake! -- and will dispense with New York-style heap= s of money toward that noble end.

But the rosy post-Thanksgiv= ing glow these human resource developments have created ebbs in the face of nagging = self-doubt. I look at my four-year-old daughter -- so innocent, so devoid of mental ang= uish from the highways and byways of life, so utterly cute in her Cubs shirt and= cap -- and ask myself, have I done the right thing? Is raising her a Cubs fan ethically sound? In short, what dreadful future hath I wrought for this chi= ld?

Such philosophically vexing questions are mere momentary setbacks, for I soon realize I have bequeathed unto her a special gift -- this unquestioning, unshakable, affectionate loy= alty for Chicago's National League Ball Club. That's because devotion in the face of past hard= ship and future disappointment (what some term "rooting for a loser") = is a character-building trait of the highest order, with unexpected intellectual benefits.

For one thing, being a Cubs= fan fosters a profound sense of history. Back in 1908, for instance -- the Cubs' last championship season -- no radio broadcasts were available of the games, baseball players had day jobs in the off-season, and Joliet's downtown was crisscrossed by electric streetcars and populated by organ grinders with live monkeys. Weir= d, eh? That's why history's so danged interesting, kids!

For another, quantifying th= e Cubs' near-century of baseball futility provides a cornucopia of mathematics less= ons.

Daddy: "Just think of = it, sweetie. The last year the Cu= bs played in the World Series, 1945, Grandpa was five years old. They lost, of course. And the last time they won it, Great-Grandma was negative six!"= ;

Brainwashed Child (mouth ag= ape): "Wow! (pause) You're right, daddy. Math is fun. Can I play with my Bar= bies now?"

Finally, consider the twin = virtues of deferred pleasure and pain tolerance. Admittedly, watching your team los= e -- year after year, decade after incompetent decade -- borders on masochism. Y= et in this age of unbridled consumerism and rampant egocentrism, a little self-denial is critical for aligning one's moral compass; and yes, that goes for pre-schoolers, too.

"No, honey," I sa= id recently. "You can't have that candy bar today. Or tomorrow. Sometimes life is like that. Nasty and brutish -- just like the Cubs last year. But thirty, forty, or seventy years from now, think of how delicious it will be."

Joliet resident Mike Bryson (mbry22@sbcglobal.net) is a Cubs fan by birth a= nd refuses to let one bad century get him down. His favorite all-time Cub is Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown.

"Best Prairie Parkway Plan: None"

Dec. 25, 20= 06

Recently I indulged my keen interest in lengthy government documents by perusing IDOT's Draft Environme= ntal Impact Statement on the Pr= airie Parkway and attending a Dec. 7th public hearin= g on the report in Morris.

The Department of Transport= ation concludes that the Prairie= Parkway, the controversial proposed highway connector between Interstates 88 and 80, will provide the best regional traffic flow management in response to proje= cted growth and development. Or something to that effect.

IDOT's report evaluates the environmental costs and transportation benefits of three different Parkway options: a straight route running south from I-88 to connect with I-80 at Morris; a similar route which zig-zags southeast to terminate near Minooka;= and (my personal favorite) no Parkway at all. You and I have until January 16th= to submit comments on the draft EIS and thus influence which option IDOT will formally recommend in early 2007.

In my humble estimation, th= e state road gurus don't make a compelling case for this billion dollar boondoggle.=

First, the Parkway is illog= ically situated in the predominantly rural parts of Kane, Kendall, and Grundy counties. If the objective is easing future traffic congestion within the region, why not build a road in the fast-developing and more urbanized eastern parts of these counties? T= here's already a major north-south road there, that's why. It's called Illinois 47.

Second, the Parkway would s= lice through some of the best remaining farmland in the <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Chicago region. IDOT blandly assures th= ose of us worried about urban sprawl that development around the road will be mini= mal.

This claim is not just laug= hably naive, it inexplicably ignores one of the driving purposes of this and any major road: to spur economic development. Does anyone truly think that the I-355 extension in eastern Will = County will not have a dramatic effect on the communities of Homer Glen, Loc= kport, and New Lenox? No politician backs a road project that doesn't have the potential to "develop" and "improve" the landscape with lots of houses, strip malls, parking lots, and landfills.

Third, I object to attempts= at sugarcoating this massive road project with appealing names and environment= ally correct plantings and signage. That's like putting lipstick on a cow and calling her a movie star.

Finally, consider the cost = -- nearly a billion taxpayer dollars will be needed to finance the Parkway, and this funding is far from secure. Frankly, I favor spending a much more mode= st amount improving the already-existing and better-situated Illinois 47. Amazingly, such improveme= nts are part of the "no build" option cited above, which for me makes= it a no-brainer.

There's still time to act, = folks. Read the Parkway's environmental impact statement by the January 16th deadl= ine. Tell IDOT what you think. And have a Happy New Year.

Mike Bryson re= ads email sent to mbry22@sbcglobal.net. Access IDOT's draft environmental impact statement online at the Prairie Parkway Study (http://www.p= rairie-parkway.com) or in print at your local public library.