I’m fairly certain I’m not the only person who has been moody or grumpy lately. I really wasn’t sure why I was out of sorts until my wife showed me an article titled “18 Things Creative People Do.” As I read down through it, I thought to myself “I used to do that” or “The last time I remember doing that was last Fall.” It was a bolt from the blue to realize I was moody because I wasn’t being creative. I had all this energy inside me and it was getting stale. I’m betting I’m not alone in that feeling, either.

This winter and its weekly snow storms, arctic cold and general misery have driven us all inside. When you throw in the stress of the Water Crisis and the on-going anger most of us have from that, and mix it with the daily dodge-em cars we play driving down roads filled with potholes, it is no wonder a lot of us are out of sorts.

Realizing the need to get out and do anything creative, I jumped at the chance to go listen to three university professors/artists speak about printmaking as part of the “Gallery Divided II Lecture Series” at the Clay Center last week. Yes, I know “Printmaking” as a topic sounds fairly esoteric even for creative types. I wasn’t going there to learn about techniques; I hoped to find some inspiration.

Joseph Lupo, from West Virginia University, spoke about a really interesting project where he has deconstructed a comic book for its visual elements. It is pretty amazing how we have all come to recognize what those elements mean even when taken out of context.

Peter Massing, a professor at Marshall, said something that really struck me. “Looking is as important as making,” he said.

I know I probably lost a lot of people when I began talking about creativity, but even if you’re not an “artist” or “crafty”, get out and explore the arts, art opportunities and look for inspiration around you. You’ll be surprised at all the opportunities right in your backyard. And then turn off the television and get out there and make something. It will do you a world of good.

I’m not a printmaker or an “artist”, but I did come up with an idea for a new project that will have me stepping outside my comfort zone.

And maybe I won’t be so grumpy….

Driving through Kanawha City with my daughter last week, we passed the site of the old Watt Powell Park and I mentioned to her that was where I used to go see baseball games.  I remember going there as a kid with my family to see the Charlies and then later with friends to see the Wheelers and the Alley Cats.

Passing by a television tuned to a sports channel yesterday, I saw baseball players getting in shape in Florida as part of Spring Training. That’s the strongest signal I know of that Winter will eventually lose its grip and Spring and Summer will be here before we know it.

My girls were born in North Carolina and we went to see the Durham Bulls play from time to time. That was a beautiful ballpark but the downside was the Bulls are AAA and the park is nearly the size of a Major League ballpark.

I really like Single A baseball for the intimacy of it and West Virginia Power Park is a nice little venue. If you’re interested, you can get to know the players and really have a connection with what’s going on—on and off the field.  If you’re so inclined, you can even make your presence felt by the opposing team. I will never forget the 3rd base coach for the Visitors turning around and telling my buddy to shut his mouth at Watt Powell. Of course that was the worst thing he could’ve done. Let’s just say my friend really didn’t listen to the opposing team’s coach.

Single A baseball has the same appeal for me as do the summer and winter Olympics and college sports. The players are there for the love of the game. They are getting paid, but they are far from getting rich. They still have dreams and are busting their tails to live them out.

After this endless winter and the itinerant cabin fever that came with it, I can’t think of anything I’m looking forward to more than getting outside and relaxing in the sun. And this year I plan to spend some of those summer evenings at the ball park. As my friend Danny Boyd just told me, watching baseball in the summer is “Good for the soul.”

Is Spring Training over yet?.

A couple months ago, I saw a news report that Hugh Jackman, the actor, was sporting a band aid on his nose after having a basal cell carcinoma removed. He said it was a small spot on his nose and he had ignored it for a while.

His revelation, originally made on Instagram, made me wonder about a small red spot on my cheek. I showed it to my wife and we agreed to watch it for a while. A couple weeks ago, I decided it was time to get it checked out. As recently as a half an hour before I left for the dermatologist’s office, I wondered if I was making something out of nothing.

In about 30 seconds, the doctor’s physician assistant told me I had an Actinic Keratosis, a precancerous lesion caused by long-term exposure to the sun. Not a big deal itself, but it does have the potential to turn into a squamous cell carcinoma. In just a couple more minutes, the PA froze the lesion and told me to come back in a couple months for a follow up. That was it.

I remember the days when putting on lotion for the sun meant oil that made our tans darker, not lighter. There was even a brief period in the late 1980s when I worked at a gym in South Charleston, that I used a tanning bed. As a diver, and general water dog, I’ve spent a lot of time in the sun with sunlight glaring off the water directly into my face. I’ve gotten sunburns on my face, my shoulders and arms, and the tops of my ears.

If you have a spot on your skin, anywhere, that doesn’t seem quite right; if it doesn’t seem to heal, is scaly, red or painful, even if it is really small, have it checked out. (The spot on my face was about the size of a pencil eraser.) Early detection of skin cancer is the key to increasing your chances of recovery. If you notice a spot on a loved-one, say something about that, too.

I’m not going to pretend as many people read this as pay attention to Hugh Jackman, but if it makes one or two people think and get a small spot checked out, that will make me very happy.

Yes, we are in the midst of a winter that won’t seem to quit and we are all praying to see the sun again. The last thing anyone is thinking about is sunburns and skin cancer. But every year, more people are diagnosed with skin cancer than any other form of cancer. And it can kill.

Don’t ignore it..

    Yesterday, I attended a ceremony to award a US Army Bronze Star with “V” device. The V stands for Valor and means the award was given for Acts of Heroism, specifically in combat. This award was a little different though. It was James McCormick’s third Bronze Star, but was given for something he did in Iraq in 2004.

James was surrounded by friends and family for the ceremony and his son held his hand as Brigadier General David Buckalew, Director, Joint Staff, WV National Guard pinned on the medal. I watched his face during the presentation and I could tell discussing that day in Iraq brought back memories of day when he used his gun truck to defend a supply convoy against a violent attack from the enemy.

James graduated from Winfield High School in 1986 and immediately joined the Army as a Cavalry Scout for the 24^th Infantry Division. He served in Desert Storm in 1991 where he earned his first Bronze Star. After two enlistments, James left the Army to earn his Bachelors Degree from West Virginia State College (now University) and later returned to the Army where he received a direct commission as a Second Lieutenant. In 2004, he deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. James ended up being recruited to a new company called the 518^th Combat Gun Truck Company, where he served as the Executive Officer. Their job was protecting convoys from ambush attacks. Some of the worst fighting of the early part of the war was on the roads in and around Baghdad International Airport and the 518th never lost a vehicle to the enemy. His actions earned him two Bronze Stars with V Device and three purple hearts.

The 518^th took the name The Regulators, after a deputized group of men in the Old West who fought in the Lincoln County war, and spawned the likes of Billy the Kid. They created a new doctrine of convoy support, based on what their predecessors in Vietnam created.

When James left Iraq in 2005, he hadn’t received the final Bronze Star, but he said they told him “Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.” Better late than never, the army got his fouled paperwork straightened out and sent James the award…or they were going to until others learned that his Bronze Star with “V” device was coming in the mail. James’ friends decided a true hero needed to be honored for his service.

 US Senator Joe Manchin, Maj. Gen. Allen E. Tackett (Ret.) and Hershel “Woody” Williams, the only surviving West Virginia Medal of Honor recipient and the last surviving MOH recipient from Iwo Jima all spoke about James’ honor and bravery. Maj. Gen. James A. Hoyer was unable to attend, but sent additional recognition with Buckalew.

The Bronze Star with V Device citation reads:

For heroism in ground operations against a hostile force. Second Lieutenant McCormick distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 7 April 2004 while performing dual assignments as the Convoy Security Commander and Gunner providing security for the 1487 Transportation Company during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Second Lieutenant McCormick quickly maneuvered his M99 Gun Truck into position providing protection while engaging and destroying the enemy. Second Lieutenant McCormick suffered an injury to his left hand but continued to fight and protect the convoy until the entire element was remove from the kill-zone. His commitment to duty is in keeping with the highest standards of military traditions and reflects distinct credit upon himself, the Coalition Force Land Component Command and the United States Army. 

James retired from the Army as a Captain and is now the director of the WV Warrior Farmers Project, working to help veterans become farmers, support themselves and quite likely find some of the peace many of them lost on the battlefield. James arrived at the courthouse for the presentation ceremony wearing bib overalls and carrying his suit. He had just come from the farm where they were working with honey bees he is helping to teach veterans to raise.

I’m proud to know men like James McCormick and Woody Williams. Their days of fighting are long behind both of them, but they both still fight for veterans and their country.

Maybe this is the harder fight.

 .

Since the chemical spill into the Elk River on January 9, 2014, I’ve been (somewhat) patiently waiting for things to return to normal. I expected the “smart” people to figure out what to do and to get this all cleaned up. I’ve been certain that our elected leaders would take this as a wake-up call and step up and strengthen protections for the water and air we all take for granted.

There have been mistakes and missteps, and I’ve given those leaders some latitude insisting that no one knew anything about the chemical dumped into the Elk and so it wasn’t realistic to expect they would have all the answers. They were making judgment calls based on the limited information they had.

And then nearly a month after the spill, there was another uninspiring press conference of half answers and the chemical showed up in five more schools, closing them for a day and sending people to the hospital and more home complaining of burning, itching eyes. And I went out to one of the water buffaloes (that only returned due to public pressure) and refilled 15 empty gallon water jugs for my family to drink.

Right after the spill, a friend of mine began a social media post with the phrase “I’m not a tree hugging environmentalist, but…” before going on to explain why the situation with our water should have been caught earlier. I get what he was trying to say, but I got turned off at the opening phrase. Maybe we need to become rabid, tree-hugging, fighting for our very livelihood environmentalists. No one else is going to do it for us.

This isn’t a political issue and it shouldn’t be about political parties. President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act and I don’t recall anyone every accusing him of being a tree-hugger.

“NEPA came into existence following increased appreciation for the environment, and growing concerns about ecological and wildlife well-being; indeed, the public outcry after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill was perhaps the leading catalyst. An Eisenhower-era Outdoor Recreation report, a Wilderness Act, Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, along with Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, all reflect the growing concerns, public interest group efforts, and legislative discussion involved.”

Water is all around us and we take it very much for granted. Or at least we used to…before we started looking at our water taps suspiciously.

Do we need another Silent Spring? I think we have the equivalent of the Santa Barbara oil spill. Frankly, at this point, I don’t want things to return to “normal”. We should all be saying “Never again!”  I’m ashamed I haven’t been more vocal or angrier about this, but I think that, too, has ended.

(I wrote this about a week and a half ago, and it just now ran in the paper. Such are the nature of deadlines when writing for a weekly section in the paper. This guest commentary from Dayton Carpenter ran in today’s Charleston Daily Mail and I think this is the first person I have read who really makes sense on the subject. No hysteria. No over-reaction. No defensiveness. Just facts and common sense.).