The Un-Muddled Mathematician

Some days are great, some days are hard.

Some are both.

Chris Coray, The Un-muddled Mathematician.

Saturday was the kind of day which produces introspection.  It was both hard and good, in different ways.  For the hard there was the funeral of dear Becky Green.  Besides all the great interaction with all of us at the post office, Becky and I took several long training rides on our bicycles as we worked to get in shape.   She was one person I could barely keep up with (as opposed to being a tail end Charlie) so it made me feel strong.   We had fun rides and I will miss her as she was one of our precious community members, and we are really a community of people who support and care for each other.

The good was the Cisco Disco and the Polar Plunge.  For 23 years Scott Tolentino has been involved with the annual cisco, scone, and French fry party on the east side.  Ever since I have lived here Scott and his wife Deena have been the ones who make this event happen.  There is no government involvement, no formal organization, no tax dollars at all.  But the Tolentinos work really hard every year to round up enough cisco (more than 300, mostly donated), make 80 lbs of flour into scone dough, ask friends to provide the potatoes, and then take all their equipment and set up the cooking station at Cisco Beach.   Then they prepare this cholesterol bounty for all for the people who visit the lake on the day of the Cisco Disco (I think named by Doug Miller).  Hundreds of people attend and are invited to hot chocolate and deep fried cisco, potatoes, and scones (complete with condiments), all just given away.  Sure, it’s cold but we spit at winter and laugh together. 

Anita Weston attended her first Cisco Disco on Saturday and ended up making scones.  Jack (age 6) and Scott (age 3) Wakefield each caught a little slimy fish and boy, were they proud.  The fish not so much.   Iris Niesen ate more cisco than…well, let’s just say she ate a lot of cisco, which may be the reason she and Hans travel here from Germany in the winter.

The polar plunge can only be described as way south of crazy.  For example, Richard Ballam in a white shirt, tie, nametag, leaping into the 32 degree water makes me want to check the contents of all his pharmacy prescriptions.  There are plenty of other nuts who made the same kind of leap.   I keep asking, “Why?”  At least in a Finnish sauna there is an adjacent hot room heated to such a level that sweat pours out of pores, and is a place to recover from the snow and cold.  That feature would be a welcome addition to the polar frolic.

With the coming of the ice I now propose the initiation of a college scholarship fund for a resident of our area.  The details are just forming in my mind but a good name would be the Kam Jarman/Bob Stevens memorial scholarship.  It would go to a deserving young person to help with the increasing cost of college.  The money would be raised by pledges.  We have “Relays for Life” for cancer victims and many other similar activities.  This one would be funded by pledges made in the event we can get both Kam Jarman and Bob Stevens out on the Bear Lake ice, at least a quarter mile to the rock pile, and attached to each other with a short rope.  These guys are terrified of the ice.  There would be no safety gear allowed, just a small flag with the words, “I told you this was dangerous” to mark the spots where they fall through.  I hereby make the first pledge of $50.  The original “little guy” (or perhaps “chicken little guy”) and the husband of the author of the phrase “little guy” would have a great photo for their children, grandchildren, and all descendants. 

Provided of course that they survive the trip.