The retirement chapter of life has been my most challenging.  Perhaps because I was thrust into it without a plan.  Like many readers, I have lived a (heretofore unrecognized) privileged life.  Despite some disappointments and tragedies, I could rely on the support of a loving and supportive husband, daughter, friends, and family. I found meaning in a successful career.

I raced through life, balancing everything.  I expected my life to go well.  And, for the most part, it did.

Until it didn’t.  I was unprepared for what followed.

There are many courses and books available to help; but, as I usually do, I look to people to inspire me.

So, what I have learned?  First, I have stopped racing through life and recognize that it is a gift, health is a gift, friends are a gift, family is a gift.  Gratitude and happiness are choices.  I guess I can summarize my learning into three themes:

1. Never stop dreaming.

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”  Langston Hughes

1. Appreciate the wisdom gained through life experiences.

“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” Robert Frost

“Wisdom is the reward for surviving our own stupidity.” Brian Rathbone

1. Appreciate the time gift of time.

“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” Frank Lloyd Wright

“As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also that you understand you’re going to die, and you live a better life because of it.”― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

So how does this show up?

My friend, Dodie, 80, decided to go skydiving.

That’s right, skydiving.

I had to learn more.

Q:  Why skydiving?

Dodie: This is been on my bucket list for a long time.  At first, I wanted to confront fear.  I ended up experiencing fear earlier on a climb and repel journey.  But I still wanted to do it and watched a couple of YouTube videos and I saw a 96-year old woman doing it.  So I knew that I could do it.

Q:  This is a tough time to be doing this with COVID 19; fear of broken bones, etc.

Dodie: It was a tandem jump (where you are belted in with an experienced sky diver), so I felt safe.  Everything was COVID 19 protected.  I stayed in the moment and I wasn’t nervous or fearful.

Q:  How did it feel?

Dodie: When they opened the door and I put my feet out, I was awestruck.  There is nothing that I could compare this to.  Not like hang gliding or fast skiing.  It was exhilarating.  I fell 5,000 feet in 60 seconds.  But I did not feel like I was falling.

Q:  Is this a different experience for you at this age rather than when you were younger?

Dodie: Yes, definitely.  In my younger years, I would have raced through it.  But time has taught me patience and to live in the moment.  I don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow…just today.

In my younger years I might have worried about it.  But I had seen the videos and I wasn’t afraid.  Since I live in the moment, I didn’t anguish over it at all.

Also, I had nothing riding on this.  I chose to do it for the experience only, and I had no expectations.

And I enjoyed every second.

Q:  What advice would you like to share?

Dodie:  Bring a cheering section, it makes it even more fun.  Everyone was cheering as I landed, and it became a celebration.

But mostly, remember that you are never too old and it is never too late.

President Trump can be a bully.  Bullies are made, not born, and it is easy to be sympathetic to President Trump’s upbringing.  Multiple sources confirm that President Trump was raised by a psychopathic father and an indifferent mother. He learned that the only way that he could get his father’s attention was by bullying his brothers and ignoring his sisters. When he became an adult, his father proudly rewarded bullying behavior with admiration and money.

Unsurprisingly, President Trump was a bully in the Presidential Debate.

But what was surprising was how many debate onlookers criticized Wallace and Biden for not stopping the behavior.  A quick review of the research makes it clear that it would have impossible to stop this behavior within the imposed limitations of the debate.

Ironically, October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

The education establishment has focused on eliminating bullying for decades.  But it has been extremely difficult despite the extensive research and programs directed at the problem.  Bullying is especially harmful to children.  Duke University demonstrated that victims have health consequences well into adulthood.

Peer mediation and other programs have been tried, but research suggests that the MOST effective treatment to eliminate bullying are “upstanders.”  Upstanders are bystanders who stand up for the victim.  Bystanders often remain quiet because they fear retaliation, but if enough stand up for the victim, the bully loses his pulpit.

Adult bullies tend to fit into the following patterns:

• Narcissistic: A self-centered, unempathetic person who needs to “put others down” to feel good about himself.
• Impulsive: An individual who has a hard time restraining his behavior when he is upset and lashes out.
• Physical: A person who uses threats of harm or physical domination.
• Verbal: Individuals who create misinformation or use demeaning language to dominate or humiliate.
• Secondary: A person who does not initiate the bullying but joins in to prevent becoming a victim.

Adult bullies are more interested in power and domination. They want to feel as though they are important and preferred, and they accomplish this by bringing others down.

So what can really be done about an adult bully?  Very little. Dr. Robert Stratton of Stanford University published a book The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt.  While there are many tips, here is the gist of techniques to survive adult bullies.

1. Walk away.
2. Fight back with your own “army.”
3. Use humor to deflect bullying behavior.

The bottom line is that a bully is an insecure person who feels threatened.  But while it is important to be an “upstander”, it is equally important to be sympathetic.  Behind that bravado, hides a scared, insecure little boy or girl.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Last week I voted.  It was exhilarating, I have never missed an election, including primaries, school boards, and general elections…yet there was something special about this vote.  With all the crises that we now face, I felt that my vote would be a vote for stability, for hope, for peace, for unity.

As a Florida voter, I was particularly excited. I have been voting by mail in Florida for 5 years, so I am comfortable with the slightly onerous process of using a secrecy folder, signing the outer folder and affixing 3 stamps to the mailer.  I have voted in every primary and every election by mail.

Just a few months ago, I voted in the primary.

Today, I got an email notifying me that my ballot was rejected “because the signature did not match.”

Signatures change for a myriad of reasons. All signatures change over time.  But signatures can also be impacted by simple things, body position, the pen, a hurried signature.

I have never had a ballot rejected.

To prove that I am me, I must complete an affidavit and mail it with a copy of my identification to prove that I voted.  I have the option of scanning the document and sending it by email.  It is not hard, but it is an extra, clearly unnecessary step.

Next, I have to check that they received and accepted the affidavit and that my ballot is NOT labeled provisional. (Since many states do not count provisional ballots.)

The majority of Biden supporters are voting by mail. The majority of Trump supporters are voting in person.

Florida is a Republican State.  I am a registered Democrat.

Florida rejected my ballot for the first time in 5 years.

Coincidence?  I don’t think so.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Retirement is called the “gift”. It allows us to reflect on what we have learned in life and what is important. By now most of us have become comfortable in our own skin and are less concerned about what others think of us. I was fortunate enough to learn this lesson from a great teacher.  Here is that story.

I had a boss who was notorious for berating us during presentations, the larger the audience, the nastier the behavior.

One of my colleagues was making a presentation to a large group. Our boss interrupted her repeatedly with derogatory comments, heckling her.

Despite our boss’s attempts to intimidate and embarrass her, she remained calm and patiently asked for clarification.  I watched her in astonishment, this boss brought everyone to tears, male and female, she humiliated her team for sport.

After the presentation, I went over to console my colleague.

But she didn’t feel humiliated at all.

She asked me, “Do you think that the other people in the room thought I was stupid or that our boss was mean?”

“Obviously, that she was mean.” I responded.

“But what about all the criticism,” I continued. “You worked so hard on that presentation; you even took notes when she spewed her vitriol.”

“Of course,” she replied.  “Our boss wasn’t pleased, so I needed to change the presentation.”

“But your presentation was good,” I replied.

“I was satisfied with it,” she said.

“But didn’t the criticisms, hurt?”  I was determined to find some weakness here.

“Oh no,” she replied. “Both praise and criticism are about the person giving it.  Her criticism or praise for that matter was about her, not my work.”

“Let me give you an example,” she continued.  “What if someone told you that they love your hair.  It doesn’t mean that you have good hair.  It means that you have hair that that person values. There is no objective measure of hair…just perceptions.  The same goes with criticism. If that person didn’t like your hair, it is because she doesn’t like that kind of hair.  It has nothing to do with your hair.”

In that moment, I felt liberated. Until then, I yearned for praise and dreaded criticism.

Don’t get me wrong, I still appreciate and am very grateful for praise. If someone likes what I do, it feels good, and if they don’t like it, it doesn’t feel good.  But I understand that it is about them, not me.

Still, sometimes it is hard…

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Most of my liberal and moderate friends disagree with my perspective on this issue.  This is good, if we didn’t have disagreement, we would all be in lockstep.

I am impressed with conservatives, e.g., George Will, David Brooks, Mitt Romney, Lincoln Project who are choosing principles over the current leader, by recognizing that he has betrayed conservative principles and values.  Their willingness to remain true to their principles is what we are currently lacking in the legislative branch (on both sides).

One person, who sadly confused the person with the principle/position, was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Although she had a long and illustrious history of supporting equal rights with measured intellect and tenacity; her unwillingness to recognize this talent in others has led to our current crisis.

By believing that hers was the only voice for women and equal rights, and refusing to retire when she was ill and another person who held her same cherished values could be appointed; she may have ironically cost this court a crucial vote for equal rights.

I experienced this in a minor way when I was President of the Board of Education in the Morris School District. Being the President of the School District can be a bit heady, I was recognized with deference throughout the community. I led the Board which appointed employees, had fiduciary responsibility for a $100M budget, oversaw school capital projects, spoke to the press, etc.

Fortunately, I understood that it was the position that was giving me this power not me.

I learned that from my predecessor who had been unable to give up the position.  She believed that the school could not function without her.  Thereupon she tried to undermine my role, from meetings with the Superintendent to setting the Board agenda.

I had been elected because the Board wanted change.  It had devolved into factions and meetings lasted until 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. as the Board argued and argued.  My goal was to eliminate these factions, I began by appointing my detractors to key leadership positions.

The previous Board President attempted to undermine me and the board by leading through the Superintendent.  After giving her some time to relinquish her role, I had to exercise my elected power during a meeting and ask the Board to vote down the agenda that she and the Superintendent had inserted and not the one that the Superintendent and I had developed.

The Superintendent and I subsequently had another difficult conversation where I made it clear that the Board had elected me and it was I who had the authority and responsibility to work with him, and guide the Board and the School District.  He got it and the former President no longer had the right to usurp my position.

After my term, and the next President was elected (a year before she would serve); I included her in every conversation, every phone call, every meeting with the press; so that she, the Superintendent and the Board were ready to accept her leadership.  It worked flawlessly, by the time she took over, the factions were eliminated, and most meetings ended by 8 p.m.

The previous President had confused the position with the person.  She thought that she was so critical that no one could replace her. But she could be replaced, just as I was replaced, and everyone after me was replaced.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg had an impressive record of accomplishments in women’s and civil rights.  But unfortunately, her unwillingness to recognize anyone else’s talents may define her legacy as a person who thought that she was more important than her principles.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

It’s starting.

Ghost-like mists are rising from the rivers and creeks. Early fall asters and mums are starting to bloom.  Nuts are falling onto the walkways. Desiccated leaves sparsely cover paths.  We have had some blissfully cool mornings.

Everything is pumpkin spiced.

That’s right, crisp fall days are coming. Gorgeous oranges, reds and yellows, the death rattle of dying leaves.  Soon warm coffee drinks will replace ice-cold teas. The loud whining sound of leaf blowers will replace the grinding sound of lawn mowers.

Fruits and vegetable stands will close. Late summer crops will die and dust from harvesting will spray the air.  Eventually frost will be sprinkled over the fields like diamond dust.  Bursts of steam will emerge from horse’s nostrils.

Autumn is coming!

Oh joy.  My least favorite season.

But there is one thing about autumn that I do appreciate–the vivid colors that emerge as the dense humid summer atmosphere gives way to the clear, bright skies of autumn.

I have always loved color. In my early scientific research, I studied human perception because it is just so fascinating, how our senses limit our perception of the physical world.

Humidity dulls our perception of colors because its scatters the sunlight.  Wavelength scattering is very important in our perception of color.  The reason that the sky appears blue is a phenomenon called Rayleigh Scattering.  In simplified terms, small atmospheric particles scatter the shorter, blue wavelengths; allowing us to perceive the sky as blue.  Interestingly, if our cones were more sensitive to shorter wavelengths, the sky would appear violet.

Artists have long maintained that there are places that have more vibrant colors.  The South of France was favored by Impressionists because they believed that the bright, clear air allowed them to see the full color spectrum.  Similarly, many Plein Air artists flock to places in Maine, e.g., Deer Island, that provide similar vividness.  For those looking for the brightest colors, look for places with high altitudes, less pollution and low humidity.

Cone receptors on the back of our retinas allow us to see colors.  We have three types of cones (called trichromacy):

• Short-wave cones for colors with short wavelengths, such as purple and blue.
• Middle-wave cones which are sensitive to medium wavelengths, such as yellow and green.
• Long-wave cones to see colors with long wavelengths, such as red and orange.

In the last decade, scientists have discovered that from 2% to 12% of women have a fourth type of cone receptor, called tetrachromacy. (Because it is an X-linked gene, it is highly unlikely that men could have it.)

In 2010, a woman was documented as having true tetrachromacy. Unlike trichromats who can see up to 1 million colors; tetrachromats can see up to 100 million colors. An artist, Concetta Antico, is a tetrachromat, who paints the world that she sees, and gives us a view into her perceptual world.

Since up to 12% of the women have four cones, why hasn’t it been discovered before?  There are two reasons, first we all perceive the world differently.  How many times have you perceived one color and another person perceived it as a different color?  That is due to both labeling and our perceptual visual system.

The second reason that it hadn’t been discovered is a little more complex.  It is believed that this fourth cone is a mutation of the Long Wave Cone (L).  This mutation can be minor, so the cone responds to similar wavelengths to the unmutated L cone.  In that case, while you would possess the 4th cone your perception would be indistinguishable from the vision of trichromats (3 cones).  If, however, the mutation causes the cone to respond to shorter frequencies (the yellow band); that creates tetrachromacy.

Some insects and birds are tetrachromats (have 4 cones). For example, zebra finches use their four cones to find food and select a mate.

As of yet there is no reliable test for tetrachromacy. Scientists are experimenting with scarf colors…but so far, they have found very few women who have full tetrachromacy.

But at least you know that when the bright clear skies of autumn appear, you know why you enjoy more vivid colors; and perhaps understand why some women may see colors a little differently.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

About 20 years ago I was educated about white privilege. Until then, I was pretty proud of myself.  We moved to an urban school district so that my daughter would experience the real world (she speaks Spanish like a native).  Throughout my career, I hired mostly people of color. Every year, I required my daughter to accompany me to the Martin Luther King commemorative breakfast.

At one of these breakfasts, twenty years ago, a (white) Unitarian minister gave a speech on what it meant to be white; and everything changed.  While there were many examples, some were:

• If I get stopped by a policeman, I probably did something wrong
• If I encounter a policeman, I do not fear for my life
• When I attend a function, I can be assured that most people look like me
• If I behave badly, I don’t represent a group of people, it is just me behaving badly
• If I don’t win the house that I was bidding on, it is because I was outbid (not because I am not wanted in that neighborhood)

The list goes on.  But with each item, I realized my accomplishments were launched from an invisible white privilege springboard.  And white privilege was something that could be invoked without even knowing it.

Look at the example of the Central Park dog walker. She was illegally walking her dog off leash when a Black American man asked her to put her dog on leash. When she hostilely refused, he began videoing her.  She responded by calling the police and falsely accusing an “African American male” of threatening her. It backfired.  His post went viral and she lost her job.  In her apology, she indicated that she was not racist.  I suspect that is correct, it is just that when she needed it, she invoked her white privilege.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Z2UpLmnsk

One of the most powerful explanations of white privilege was made in a 2017 video about a student race.  If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

Before I understood white privilege, I could point to myself as a success story.  While my parents paid tuition (it was inexpensive back then); I worked my way through college and graduate school.  I was the first in my family to be awarded a Ph.D. and I worked HARD.  I worked 7 days a week, long days that often went until 2 a.m.  I was motivated and driven.  But I had the heretofore unknown advantage of white privilege.  Not in acceptances or scholarships or jobs.  I got it from my parents and my culture who taught me that success was through education and hard work.  I got it by seeing adults who looked like me (okay, they were men, but the same color) who had used their education to accomplish great things.  My parents, relatives and other adults showed me the path to my success.

At the Republican National Convention, there were many stories of Black and Hispanic Americans overcoming odds to be successful.  Good for them! But that doesn’t mean that everyone can.  (Many had parents who taught them about the value of hard work and education.)

Isabel Wilkerson in her very powerful and painful book, Caste, The Origins of our Discontent, explains why Black Americans grew up not seeing the same path. Jim Crow laws limited any upward mobility. Any job above menial labor was closed to them, even in the North. Where there were opportunities, they were paid less.

It was the Indians who recognized that Blacks had been relegated to the same caste as their Untouchables (now called the Dalits). Like the Untouchables, Black Americans were prohibited from mixing with whites, from marrying outside of their race, were given inferior facilities and education, were required to treat whites with deference, while whites were expected to treat them as inferiors.  One legislator stated that their goal was to make sure that “the lowest white person was higher than the highest black person.” Through a reign of terror, such as lynchings, false arrests, and harassment they kept Black Americans in fear.  They passed discriminatory laws that prevented Black Americans from being successful.  Sadly, the police were called upon to enforce these racist laws.

The Nazis were so impressed by the Jim Crow laws that they implemented some to oppress the Jews.  Before the Final Solution, they followed American’s blueprint, taking away job opportunities, wealth, and confining Jews to the ghetto… sound familiar?

I urge you to take the few minutes to watch “the race.” Watch how some of the students saw that it was fruitless to race, other students wanted to win regardless of their advantages, and others tried to be supportive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

There is a phenomenon in Psychology called Learned Helplessness. Learned Helplessness happens when animals or people who continue to be thwarted eventually “give up” and do not see an opportunity even when it is presented to them. In a typical human experiment, participants were exposed to loud, unpleasant noises and told to “press the lever” to stop the sound.  Half of the participants had levers that worked and the other half had levers that did not work.  All participants in the latter group gave up pressing the lever; even when they were given a second session (and the lever worked).  The participants had learned that it didn’t matter what they did, so they quit trying.

Imagine what it is like to be told that it doesn’t matter what you do, you will be treated differently, not only from your experience but by your parents’ experiences and their parents’ experiences. Despite the elimination of Jim Crow laws, ubiquitous cell phones capture discrimination and harassment against Black Americans even today.

I am impressed by anyone who can “make it” through the system.  But we must remember that we can only build ourselves up by our bootstraps if we are given boots.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

When I first came to Talbot County I stayed at my brother-in-law and sister’s place for several months.  One side of the house is edged in woodland and the other side features large, expansive meadows. In other words, a birder’s paradise.

While I was there, I placed four seed bird feeders, three bluebird houses two flat feeders for mealworms, and two hummingbird feeders.

I was well rewarded! (And, yes, I acknowledge that we are not supposed to feed them in the summer…so before I migrate in the winter, I purchase a large guilt bag of sunflower seeds and spread it all over my outdoor furniture and the grass.)

All three of the bluebird houses had nests. Bluebirds were everywhere, a male was usually perched on the fence, guarding his brood.

I had so many goldfinches that I had to fill two large bird feeders twice a day.  Interspersed with the goldfinches were other colorful birds and their bland female mates: cardinals, house finches, indigo buntings, and blue jays.  I even had several migratory Rose Crested Grosbeaks and a Blue Grosbeak.  My fruit and nut feeder became a popular restaurant for woodpeckers: red bellied woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, northern flickers and downy woodpeckers.

The hummingbird feeders were awash with hummingbirds, who, it turns out are a little nasty.  After watching some bullying behaviors, I put up more hummingbird feeders so that there would be enough for all; but they preferred to fight.

Convinced that I had found my birder’s paradise, I kept my bird books and my binoculars handy and when I moved into a new residence in town,  I put up three bird feeders and a mealworm feeder. Then I patiently waited for these beautiful birds to find my feeders.

And I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, a swarm of blackbirds descended on the feeders and devoured all of the sunflower seed. Soon brown birds found the feeders as well.

I did more research. I had been careful not to use cracked corn, I tried other combinations.  I tried safflower seeds (I couldn’t find a single bird that would eat them, even the brown and black ones). I tried other mixes.  The blackbirds just spit out what they didn’t like onto the ground.  The ground beneath the feeders became a green carpet of millet seedlings.

The blackbirds also enjoy the mealworms; no bluebirds or Carolina wrens for me.

After devouring my sunflower seeds, the black and brown birds pelt my patio and furniture with excrement.

Between black and brown bird meals, my bird feeders serve as a training center for the rodent Olympics.  Gray squirrels train for aerial leap, uneven feeders, and wire gnawing events.  Despite frequent repairs, they have successfully destroyed two bird feeders this year.

As for hummingbirds, I tried different commercial foods.  I even made my own hummingbird nectar.  I planted an orange honeysuckle bush. But it turns out that most of my neighbors also have hummingbird feeders; and the hummingbirds preferred their feeders to mine.

It is now late summer, and the blackbirds have departed for the fields, leaving it all for the brown birds and squirrels.  The aggressive little sparrows seem to have a way of keeping keep other birds away.

Occasionally I see a house finch, a chickadee, a cardinal, a tufted titmouse (horrible name) or a blue jay.  But that is pretty much it, just a bunch of brown or black birds.

As I am writing this, I spy a doughty female cardinal fledgling on one of my feeders.

I’ll take it.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

For those of you who don’t know my story, I suffered life changing losses five years ago. My husband, father, and two beloved dogs died within an 18-month time frame.  In that same period, I suffered health, career and financial losses and my possessions were stolen.  There were other losses too numerous to count. I don’t want to dwell on these losses, certainly other people have suffered more.

But after so many losses, it took me years to rebuild. As part of the rebuilding process, I leaned on two critical principles: recognizing gifts and being grateful for them.

But gifts do not always come in pretty packages.

My dog, Gus, is a perfect example.

After so many losses, I was afraid to love again. It took me two years before I considered adopting another dog.  But I found one who looked promising.  The local SPCA (in Florida) had a sweet, loving, three-year old, 10-pound poodle mix who had the same eyes as a beloved dog.  When I saw him, I instantly fell in love.

Next to this adorable little dog was a 9-year old Maltese mix who had been at the shelter for some time because he was aggressive, a biter, and not house trained.  He growled and attempted to attack any potential adopter.

I have fostered and rehabilitated over 200 dogs as a volunteer for a New Jersey animal adoption group.  As I learned to speak “dog,” I eventually specialized in rehabilitating small, biting dogs.  The key to their rehabilitation is to understand why they bite.  Most dogs are fear biters and bite because they have run out of options to get you to go away (the dog that I already had was a former fear biter). Other dogs bite to protect.  Some dogs bite for dominance. And finally, there are dogs that are just plain cranky.  We dog lovers like to believe that all dogs are wonderful and just misunderstood, mistreated, etc.  But like people, there are some grouchy dogs.  I was pretty sure that this 9-year old Maltese mix fit into the last category.

When the head of the local SPCA saw my resume, she tried to convince me to adopt this nasty Maltese mix.  I explained that I did not believe that I was emotionally ready to take on a dog with issues. But she reminded me that the sweet little dog that I wanted could be placed with anyone, but placing this nasty little dog was almost impossible.

So I gave this dog a chance and sat with him in the cage. He took an instant dislike to me. He glared at me and gave me the dog’s version of an FU.  (Sitting with his back to me.) He bared his teeth when I tried to pet him.

The manager kept up the pressure. She reminded me what would happen if they couldn’t adopt him; biting, aggressive dogs do not get better in cages.

So, I reluctantly adopted a nasty, snarling, growling, leash aggressive, object aggressive, dog aggressive, barking, biting 14-pound dog who hated me. I was determined to give him the best life that I could; but I expected very little.

I was wrong.

It took about 6 months before I uncovered that he was sweet, happy, kind and loving.  And he has become flawlessly housetrained.

I never expected this, nor, it turns out, did the SPCA.  When I brought him back to visit, the lead trainer was dumbfounded.  We both believed him to be a cantankerous, grouchy little boy.

She was so surprised, that she asked me to write a story about him for the local paper.

People incorrectly credit me.  I did no actual training, I just listened to him and recognized that he was rebelling from past mistreatment.  Because of this treatment, he developed a “get them before they get you” attitude.

But once he realized that he was only going to get love, he became the dog that he always wanted to be.

He has given me so much more than I could ever give him.  Whenever I need affection, he is there. If I can’t sleep, he comes over to my side and snuggles with me. He loves everyone and has been a great COVID 19 companion.

He is not perfect; he still barks a lot and is aggressive with some male dogs who dare to venture into his kingdom (which is everywhere that he is).  But I’m not perfect either.

He has been a great teacher, because he taught me that gifts do not always come wrapped.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Election Year in a pandemic is a new and frightful experience for many of us.  Spy columnist Al Sikes made a compelling argument that Maryland should send ballots to all registered voters, rather than requiring the absentee process.

The mail-in balloting is underfunded, states are passing laws to make it more difficult to vote, our President who does not want mail-in voting.  This is unprecedented.

Actually, it is not.  It is just what the founding fathers intended.

The Constitution does not directly give us the right to vote.  It alludes to it in Article 1 Section 4:

1: The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing (sic) Senators.

The conservative Supreme Court used this Article in their Bush v. Gore 2000 decision, where they ruled that it gave states the power over elections (effectively ending the recount).  To paraphrase, they decided that while subsequent Amendments gave us the right to vote, they did not give us the right to have our voted counted.  That is the state’s right.

The same court used this Article to effectively gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013.

While this conservative court’s decisions are egregious, they are not wrong.

The framers of the Constitution only intended for white men of property vote.  They didn’t consider expanding the right to minorities, women, slaves or free people of color, or immigrants.  As a first act after approving the Constitution, states immediately set restrictive guidelines for voting.

So, the Supreme Court is acting upon the wishes of the founding fathers.

While the founding fathers are frozen in time, our country is not.  Almost a third of the Amendments have been passed to increase voting rights.  Amendments to allow direct election of Senators, voting rights to freed men of color, women, immigrants, 18 year-olds, and Amendments to eliminate voting barriers, the poll tax, literacy tests, property requirements.

Still, if you want to restrict voting rights, look no further than Article 1 Section 4. States have historically restricted rather than expanded voting rights (especially in the South).

Time for a 29th Amendment—to amend the Constitution to give Congress the authority to grant and enforce voting rights, given the egregious history of some states. FairVote is a bipartisan group lobbying for just this.

In 2013, an Amendment to the Constitution was proposed in the House of Representatives (H. J. RES 44) that stated simply:

1. Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.
2. Congress shall have the power to enforce and implement this article by appropriate legislation.

It died in Congress.

Today we have corporations as citizens, an underfunded voting system that can be changed at will by states. Allowing the Federal Government to control voting, at least in Federal elections, would ensure all our votes could be counted.

Of course, this is a proactive situation, we haven’t passed a substantive Amendment in almost 40 years.  But to quote the Beach Boys:

“Wouldn’t it be nice?”

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.