Belva Plain

The popular novelist Belva Plain passed away last week at her home in nearby Short Hills, New Jersey. She was 95. The New York Times obituary provides details about her life.

When I worked in New York retail bookstores, Plain's books were a popular customer choice. I had never read her work, and to this day, have not. However, I remember her name and the covers of her paperbacks quite distinctly. After all, her first name was one-of-a-kind, even if her prose (at least, by reputation) was not.

The Orionids

I visited a friend today at her apartment. One of the curious items in a living room filled with curious items was a telescope. Now, my friend doesn't seem the type to spend hours gazing into the heavens. However, she has used the instrument on occasion. I didn't have an opportunity today to talk at length with her about the telescope, except to learn that it's challenging to properly use.

I wonder if she'll use the telescope to view the Orionids. They're a meteor display reputedly derived from the remains of Halley's Comet. The Orionids will be in this week's night sky, although ambient moonlight may minimize the opportunities to see the heavenly show.

Telescopes remind one of speculative activities that have been conducted since human beings walked on two legs instead of all fours. These astronomical investigations have occurred in Aboriginal Australia, Imperial China, the mysterious Mayan period in Mexico, and the Islamic crescent. They tap our deepest, universal sense of curiosity about the world we know, and the endless reaches of what we do not know.

Van Cortlandt Park

Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx, a hilly, wooded stretch of mainland Gotham, is beautiful at this time of year. It's also very busy with sports activities, especially cross country. Runners from the New York region fill the park's unforgiving cross country circuit on weekends. The athletes include many of the city's high school sports teams, from track and field to basketball. On a given Saturday in October, it's not unusual to see runners who will one day become pro sports stars. They run on this course because cross country gets one fit. The experience is similar to training camp: no one likes it, but there's no substitute for its rigor.

Cross country events take place rain or shine, regardless of temperature or other conditions. The event is a timed one, and records are kept, but I've never known an athlete who cared about a cross country record. The idea is to get in shape, and go home.

Other visitors to Van Cortlandt Park play the public golf course there. I did when I was in high school. At the time, I had no game whatsover. I hardly knew how to properly hold a club. While my golf partner, a cross-eyed classmate, could hit a ball straight, I hooked and sliced them all over the course. As a result, I became very familiar with the trees along the fairways. I had many opportunities to admire their brilliant fall colors while searching for my Titleist, Champion, or other golf balls among the fallen leaves.

Van Cortlandt Park is a side of New York that still feels stubbornly rooted to the city, its quirky personality, and the people that call it home. Now is the best time of year to see the park, and get a sense of one of New York's locally known icons.

Camp Randall

Tomorrow night, Ohio State will play Wisconsin at the Badgers' home field, Camp Randall Stadium. I went to UW football games when I attended the university. The games were very rowdy, a lot of fun, and sometimes freezing cold in the stands. At that time, Wisconsin's football teams were around .500. The highlight of the season was when a Big Ten powerhouse came to town. That meant either Ohio State or Michigan.

While I never saw a Michigan game, I did catch the Buckeyes. Woody Hayes, in the twlight of his career, was the coach. When one attends a sports event in person, one quickly notices the size of players. The difference in perception between live action and television is most noticeable in nuances such as relative sizes of the athletes. Ohio State's players were far bigger than anything Wisconsin had on the field. They were also faster, but it was the size differential that was very, very striking.

At the end of the game, I was very upset that State had won. We were seated within a stone's throw of the area where the Ohio State team exited the field. I took the "throw" part to heart, picked up an object, and was about ready to throw it at Hayes himself. Fortunately, a friend (Charlie, for those who know the people in the story) kept his head and prevented me from what would have been an act of certain folly, likely severe injury, and probable arrest. He scolded me and told me I was crazy to even contemplate such an act.

He was right, of course.

I know better now. And I remain a fan. I still root for the Badgers. I work with someone whose daughter attends Ohio State. We didn't bet on the game, but we know where we stand. One of us will be happier than the other on Monday.

Duck

A quick post this evening. Take time to read this Washington Post feature on Harry Whttington, the man Dick Cheney shot during a hunting party in South Texas.

Obama Administration's Nolo Contendere in Foreclosure Servicing Crisis

Earlier today, the Obama Administration floated a proposal to address the burgeoning foreclosure servicing crisis. One has to read it to believe it. The Washington Post has the details. I'll provide some of the story's choicer items:

Exhibit A: Federal regulators on Wednesday urged the nation's lenders to verify that paperwork filed as part of the foreclosure process was properly reviewed and to file new documents if problems are found. But regulators also said that lenders should continue as quickly as possible with foreclosures when no problems are found.

Exhibit B: (I)t's not clear whether (the Federal Housing Finance Agency) will play a positive role in cleaning up the foreclosure mess. The regulatory framework largely repeated what regulators have already said or what banks were already doing.

In essence, it tells banks to make sure that documents used as part of the foreclosure were properly reviewed and signed. If they weren't, banks must work with local lawyers for a fix. This might include filing new paperwork that has been properly reviewed, the framework says.

I believe that means the niceties of due process for the foreclosed homeowner can be safely ignored, while the banks and mortgage fixers get a free pass and a "do-over." Don't worry: the foreclosed family might receive an "oops" note in the mail from their mortgage lender. This document, however, probably won't be delivered by a process server.

Exhibit C: "The country's housing finance system remains fragile and I intend to maintain our focus on addressing this issue in a manner that is fair to delinquent households, but also fair to servicers, mortgage investors, neighborhoods and, most of all, is in the best interests of taxpayers and housing market," said FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco in a statement.

It's heartening to learn that the FHFA is being "fair" to servicers, a number of whom are being investigated by various states' attorneys general for civil and criminal violations of the law. The servicers are made to order to take the fall for the volatile mortgage scandals.

Today's Wall Street Journal named names in the Florida AG's investigation of servicers. There are four principal players in this field in the Sunshine State. Guess how they got their lucrative, politically connected, behind-the-curtain business? They were chosen by Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae representatives. Freddie and Fannie execs were key Democratic Party fundraisers and acceptable faces to the now-restive corporate world. One wonders just how edgy the rapidly escalating foreclosure documentation crisis is making White House operatives.

The corruption runs deep, and touches all of us.

Bobby Cox

Bobby Cox's last game as the Atlanta Braves' manager took place last night. In an act that showed class, the San Francisco Giants stopped their playoff victory celebration, clapped for Cox and tipped their caps to him.

This is almost unheard of in baseball, and the act gave Cox a gesture of dignity and respect that he entirely earned. It was one of the sport's proud moments.

History vs. Memoir

Reporter Fareed Zakaria recently interviewed China's premier Wen Jiabao for Time magazine. The piece, whose brevity strongly suggests Zakaria had around ten minutes with the PRC's numero uno, wasn't terribly informative. However, there was one unanticipated, golden moment. Here's the direct quote from the Time piece:

Q: Is there a book you've read in the past few months that has impressed you?

A: The books that are always on my shelves are books about history, because I believe history is like a mirror, and I like to read both Chinese history and history of foreign countries. There are two books that I often travel with. One is The Theory of Moral Sentiments, by Adam Smith. The other is The Meditations [of Marcus Aurelius]. There are too many memoirs selling nowadays. I don't like reading those books.

While Wen's politics are often objectionable, I'll second his motion regarding history vs. memoirs.

The image shows Wen in 2007 honoring a photograph taken by China's first lunar probe.

Black Bear

I saw a black bear today. My wife and I were driving through Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area this afternoon when we saw the animal near the side of the narrow road. The bear looked over its shoulder when it heard our car's engine. One glance at our vehicle was enough to convince the creature to run away from us. Well, it didn't exactly run. The bear's gait was more akin to a clumsy gallop than a run. The bear made it into the trees and bushes and then checked us out again.

I was completely charmed. I had never seen a black bear in the wild, and the sighting was the last thing I expected this afternoon. I had not planned to go out today, as I had a project deadline to meet. Work was done ahead of schedule, and that gave my wife and I time to go out. Visiting the National Recreation Area was unintended, as we simply drove west toward the Delaware River and got off at the last exit on Interstate 80 in New Jersey.

I had seen bears in the wild once before. However, those bears were brown and I saw them from the deck of a ship off the Alaskan coast. Today's sighting was much more satisfying and visceral, as it was a complete surprise, and we were rather close to the bear.

For me, spotting a bear in the wild is as unique as when I saw a palm tree for the first time. To this day, I remember the palm tree, and I'm certain I'll remember the black bear hastily and wisely avoiding human contact. I'll also look in the night sky, where Ursa Major is a frequent visitor.