The Foundation: 015
Silent Night
I used to stop at Billy Goat the end of each year, after my last scheduled shift downtown. Whiskey, a burger. It felt an appropriate time to be alone and think and it was a period I reliably felt no external pressure. No professional, social, or familial obligations. I had more time to think, then. And of course I didn’t fully appreciate that until it passed.
Holidays before the pandemic, I passed on this yearly ritual and went home instead. I mean - who knew. And then a couple years at home or outdoors. No bars. I was downtown for work just before Christmas again, and elsewhere in the city reporting. Alone. Quiet. I like seeing people decorate their homes, being warm in a car with coffee when it’s cold outside, and the feeling of downtown when it slows a little.
I’m settling in at a new job (here) and it’s been fun. I wrapped up my first semester teaching, in Arkansas, and though I was there five weeks it feels now not so long. I’d like to do that again.
The older of my sons has seen skim ice on standing water the last couple mornings and asks to go fishing. In a few weeks maybe, maybe a couple hours north. But not likely here.
Happy holidays.
Listening
Ave Maria
Veni Veni Emmanuel
Silent Night
Reading
'Heartbreaking' trial in Peoria highlights failures of Illinois DCFS
(Excerpted)
… Navin Jones, an 8-year-old boy who died of severe malnutrition and abuse in 2022 … a weeklong trial that detailed the abuse and further revealed how the Department of Children and Family Services did not act to remove the child from his parents’ care.
…
Navin weighed just 30 pounds when his mother, Stephanie Jones, found him unresponsive in his room in March 2022.
…
While DCFS made several attempts to visit the children, it wasn’t until February 2022 when DCFS investigator Kathy Harvey visited the home and observed Navin to be gaunt, sickly and “very thin,” according to her testimony. She said she spent about 15 minutes with Navin and saw him eat popcorn and drink juice.
Harvey testified she did not believe at the time she had the authority to help Navin get medical care.
“I didn’t believe it was critical,” Harvey said of Navin’s condition. “I didn’t know he was going to die.”
…
DCFS spokeswoman Heather Tarczan declined to answer questions from the Illinois Answers Project regarding Harvey’s assessment and the proper protocol.
More research on ACES
“ACEs may impact mortality risk partially through lower self-acceptance and purpose during adulthood. Given that self-acceptance and purpose may change through intervention, these factors may be useful targets for individuals with ACEs that could lead to a longer life.”
More research on corporal punishment
“This study provides evidence that spanking is associated with lower executive functioning in children …”