Quick Takes for June

Whoa. The year is half over. Time to wrap up this month with a few odds 'n' ends.

A quirky book. I always look in a bookstore's bargain bin to see if something might catch my eye at a good price. That's how I recently wound up reading "Spook: Science Tackles The Afterlife." I was familiar with the author, Mary Roach, because I knew her previous book, "Stiff," was the basis of the popular HBO series "Six Feet Under," which I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, I'd seen Mary speak at a workshop in Portland a few years ago on narrative nonfiction writing and she was full of hilarious anecdotes as well as good information.

In "Spook," she brings her characteristically droll approach to the question of whether there is life after death and an examination of scientists' efforts to prove it. She travels widely in search of answers -- from India to Canada to England to rural North Carolina and numerous university labs -- and plumbs the depths of the scientific literature, exploring weird and fascinating topics that include: reincarnation; ectoplasm; mediums; ghosts; "soul-weighing" and "psychoacoustics." It's well reported, with a healthy dose of skepticism, and pretty entertaining -- a nice diversion from my usual fare of contemporary novels and nonfiction/current events.

"Simply put, this is a book for people who would like very much to believe in a soul and in an afterlife for it to hang around in, but who have trouble accepting these things on faith," Roach writes. "It's a giggly, random, utterly earthbound assault on our most ponderous unanswered question. It's spirituality treated like crop science."

She'll be in Portland in August to promote her new book, "Packing for Mars."

A sweet movie. "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" were so well done, so stylish and entertaining, that I was doubtful that yet another sequel could deliver the same quality as its predecessors. Happily, I was proven wrong. Lori and I went to see the new Pixar release on Sunday and came away thinking it just might have been the best of the three. Woody and Buzz are endearing as ever and the script crackles with humor, wit, suspense and redemption. No spoiler alerts here or plot descriptions. Just a strong recommendation that you go see it. And before or after you do, check out this thoughtful essay by David Hajdu, "The toys are us: Watching slow the footsteps of playthings."

New friendships. One of the nice things about spending time on Orcas is that we are gradually expanding our circle of friends on the island. Because we only go up a handful of times each year and because our place is so remote, there aren't a whole lot of opportunities beyond our immediate community in Eagle Lake. Weekend potlucks are hit and miss, so it was nice to spend time again with Jennifer Brennock, a fellow writer who's involved in the arts community and who worked briefly as a reporter for the weekly newspaper serving Orcas.

I actually met Jennifer last year when she led a writing workshop that I attended at the public library. In March, she joined us for dinner before serving as emcee at the Artsmith Salon Series at Doe Bay Cafe. This time, Lori and I met her for lunch at the Olga Cafe, known for its Shaker lemon pie and other treats, and had a wonderful conversation that covered kids, island life and food, specifically organ meats. (You had to be there.)

That same evening we joined our friends Carl and Juliana Capdeville, caretakers at Eagle Lake, and our newest acquaintances, Patty Miller and Ray Chavez, for dinner and dessert. Patty is Juliana's sister (both grew up on the island) and is running unopposed to represent the east end of the island on the county council. Ray is her partner and the least likely island transplant I would have imagined -- a sassy New Yorker of Dominican heritage. Can't wait to get back up to the island in August and water the seeds of these new friendships.

Photograph of Jessie, Buzz and Woody: The Associated Press/Disney Pixar

A benevolent God?

"Everything happens for a reason."

No doubt you've heard people say this. Maybe you have too. Do you believe it? I don't.

Does that make me a non-believer in the religious sense? I don't think so. To me, accepting that things happen for a reason is to acknowledge that they are pre-ordained and that there is meaning attached to everything that takes place -- whether good or bad, uplifting or dispiriting.

I think things happen for no reason. That is, I think they happen randomly and the only meaning that attaches to them is what we humans choose to ascribe to a higher power.

Why am I writing about this?

I finally got a chance to sit down over breakfast with my friend Eric, who along with his wife Sue, had to deal with the tragic death of their daughter-in-law earlier this year. I wrote about this in an earlier post -- their oldest son, Scott, and his wife, Jenna, both young officers in the Air Force had just finished their deployments in Afghanistan and were on vacation in Scotland when a spare tire blew up on Jenna's lap. She died of her injuries five days later.

Eric immediately flew to the hospital in Edinburgh to be with Scott, to support him through the difficult process of carrying out Jenna's advance directive. After he returned home to Portland, Sue flew to England, where Scott was based, to be with their son. She's still there but plans to return home this week with Scott, who's been reassigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord just outside Tacoma.

Sensitive to the heartache anyone would still be feeling, I gently asked Eric if whatever his religious/spiritual beliefs were prior to the accident, did he find himself questioning them during the days when Jenna lay comatose?

Yes, he answered. You certainly question whether God is benevolent. If He is, why would He allow (or cause) this tragedy to happen to a young couple who had done all the right things -- gotten their college degrees, volunteered to serve their country and emerged unscathed from a hostile place, eager to begin spending time together. Why them? What possible explanation could there be for the notion that everything happens for a reason?

Yet, he acknowledged, he also prayed to that higher being that Jenna be able to recover from her injuries and in such a way that life would be worth living. The doctors had determined that if she survived, the most she'd be able to do would be to open her eyes. Maybe.

In that situation, Eric said, you're desperate and you try to grab onto anything that gives you reason to hope. I can understand that completely. I also can imagine that I would do the same. Rail against the unfairness and the randomness of an inexplicable accident while at the same time beseeching something or someone to intervene to make things right. Does that make me a hypocrite? Or just a frail human still trying to figure things out when maybe they'll never make sense?

It's strange, Eric said. Jenna died on April 1st. The next day was Good Friday. Two days later was Easter Sunday.

Today marks two months since Capt. Jenna Sielski Wilcox passed away. She will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in July.

Photograph: Solano Community Church.

Two L.A. women

Twice this week I sat down to lunch with someone whose life experience I can relate to and whose accomplishments I admire. Both are Latinas who come from working-class households in L.A. and, like me, did well in school, became the first in their family to attend college and, for the sake of career, dared to move away from California.

First, Adriana. A mutual acquaintance met her at a Hispanic Pros networking event in the neighborhood and said she was interested in becoming involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters' Latino Mentoring Advisory Council. We got together for lunch Tuesday near Lloyd Center and I listened as Adriana told her story of moving to the U.S. at age 3, only to have her parents divorce and then live with her father and a sister in downtown L.A.

She attended a large, public high school where nearly all the students are immigrants and have so many scholastic and financial obstacles to overcome. She spoke of caring teachers, of being selected for the talented and gifted program, and her own sense of adventure, which led to her choosing a small liberal arts college in Minnesota for college and then law school in Boston. Now she's an attorney for the state of Oregon and, on short notice Thursday, agreed to write an OpEd piece for The Oregonian in support of a bill that would allow illegal immigrants, like she once was, to qualify for in-state tuition. Read her piece right here. No doubt she'll get serious blowback from readers.


Three days later, I met with Esme, a Salvadoran immigrant whose parents also divorced, who graduated from USC's journalism school and then came to The Oregonian, due to my recruiting efforts (not a boast, just a fact). Yesterday was Esme's first time back in Oregon after leaving us last summer to return home to her sprawling family and a job at her dream employer, the Los Angeles Times. She did fabulous work here on the immigration beat, and endured all kinds of crap from those who demonize Latinos who are here legally or not, so I'm glad to know her editors have given her a lot of freedom to find and write stories about people who are doing interesting things and who incidentally are Latino.

Over mezza at a Lebanese restaurant on Hawthorne, we talked about family, about our newsrooms, about our blogs and, somehow, about spirituality (like me, she has issues with the Catholic Church; unlike me, she sees God's presence in more places than I do.) Though we all miss her at The Oregonian (she's a 4-foot-11 pistola of a person), I'm very happy that she's happy.

I don't know that Adriana and Esme will ever meet. But I sure feel fortunate to know both. I'm grateful for Esme's friendship and I look forward to working with Adriana on the advisory council. Si, se puede. Yes, we can.

Note: clipart provided by: www.worldatlas.com