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Sláinte

May 14, 2025 by Peg Leave a Comment

Isle of Skye, Scotland 2017

Not long ago Peg and I visited the Isle of Skye in Scotland. We took a bus ride to the small town of Portree and chuckled when we were let off near an intersection with a sign that said, “Caution, Elderly People Crossing”. The sign had a drawing of a bent at the waist old woman holding onto an even more acutely bent old man leaning on a cane. It looked strangely familiar.

Portree is the capital of the Isle of Skye. It has a little more than 2,000 residents, most of whom pretend to speak English, but who really communicate among themselves in Scottish Gaelic. Alcohol is available as long as you do not order “Scotch”. The Scotch drink is “whiskey”. The locals are reservedly polite but do not hide their bemusement at American tourists, especially if the tourists resemble the Elderly Crossing signs.

Just as many other societies, the Scotch have an arcane yang and yin approach to regulating the use and abuse of alcohol. At our hotel the tiny bar was intimate and comforting. Dark walls and heavy wooden furniture were accented by the lone barkeep who was obviously accustomed to explaining the local customs to hapless American tourists. He was of ruddy, bewhiskered visage and a roguishly engaging attitude. He was reminiscent of the 19th century immigrants who brought their Viking-like culture with them to America. Peg and I were his only customers that bleary afternoon after our bus trip. He put on his best Scottish brogue to disguise the true meaning of his responses to my haltingly timid order for a double shot of Bailey’s as though I were addressing Cerberus guarding the Bar. He scoffed, rolled his eyes and his tongue then condescendingly informed me it was illegal to buy a double for one person. Then, with a twinkle he said, “Now, should you wish to buy a single for your wife and a separate single for yourself, that will work”. So, even though I had already ordered a “Scotch” for myself and received a primer on it being properly called a “whiskey”, I ordered as instructed.

This experience reminded me of my days as an underage American trying to procure 3.2% beer from a drive-through beer joint. It always seemed to me that the only thing the Volstead Act accomplished was to sharpen the imaginations of thirsty Americans and, according to my family’s lore, to keep my Uncle Henry’s moonshine still in business. It looked to me like Scotland had approached alcohol prohibition and regulation in a similar fashion.

Regardless, Peg did get to drown her ennui about “Elderly People”; the two Baileys did the trick. However, we both have remained acutely aware of how our strides might appear; we strive to walk straighter and more briskly, and, of course, without a cane.

Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland 2017

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Filed Under: Females/Pick on Peg, Gavel Gamut, Personal Fun, Travel Tagged With: alcohol, Bailey's, Elderly People, Isle of Skye, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, Scotch, Scotland, Slainte, Whiskey

Santa Fe

May 3, 2024 by Peg Leave a Comment

At the New Mexico State Capitol Building – Photo by Peg Redwine

Peg and I spent more than half a century in the wonderful state of Indiana before heeding the sirens’, or perhaps coyotes’, irresistible call to head west. We still have a lot of family, countless friends and cherished memories of Lincoln’s boyhood state. Somehow, we have been blessed to remain in frequent contact with many of the bright and interesting Hoosiers who still help enrich our lives today even though we now live on the Osage Nation in Oklahoma where I was born and graduated from high school.

This past week we headed even further west to the Land of Enchantment, Santa Fe, New Mexico. It truly is enchanting with vistas that only that greatest artist, Mother Nature, can fully capture. However, in Santa Fe the only thing more impressive than the countless painters and sculptors was the world-class cuisine. Of note is the sticker-shock of both art and food, but worth it.

New Mexico has a history of human habitation going back thousands of years and as other places Osage County, Oklahoma and Posey County, Indiana for instance have a history of exploitation going back hundreds of years. But Peg and I were too enchanted by the benefits we received now to concern ourselves with the cultural nuances of past sins.

Photo by Peg Redwine

Our hotel was adjacent to a glorious Catholic church, The Chapel of Loretto, built in 1873 and still in service. For only $5 each we were able to experience why the nuns who founded the church sacrificed so much to preserve it.

 

Photo by Peg Redwine

Only one block south of our abode, The Inn at Loretto, was the remarkable round statehouse for the state of New Mexico. It was open to the public for free and was filled with exquisite art contributed by citizens.

Photo by Peg Redwine

Then one block north of our hotel was the Territorial Museum where for $12 each Peg and I spent four hours following history from the indigenous Pueblos, through the Spanish Conquistadors, General Lew Wallace of Ben Hur fame and the Lincoln County War involving Sheriff Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Photo by Peg Redwine

Next, we visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum that was three blocks from The Inn at Loretto. The price of admission was once again only $33 for Peg and me but bought us a simply incredible opportunity to see her art up close. And while those of you who know great art would surely see things I just don’t get; I have to say I was truly impressed by O’Keeffe’s painting of a white flower that sold at auction for $44 million dollars.

While Peg and I were besotted with the plethora of great art and food for which we owe our friend, Betty Stoabs of Osage County, a huge thank you for her guidance. The highlight of our trip was the too few hours we spent with two of our friends who also grew up in Osage County and now reside in Santa Fe.

Kay Hamilton, whose father was the famous sculptor Jim Hamilton, and Kay’s husband, Willie Grant, took the time to dine with us at the Luminaria Restaurant. Peg had often heard me speak about both of my childhood friends but had not met them. Once they all met it was Brigadoon and the once upon a time was our school years. We went to a small grade school then a small high school so we all knew who was good at what, such as Kay’s artistic talent and Willie’s exceptional wit; both remain vibrant. They well fit the Santa Fe mystique.

So, Gentle Reader, if you are looking to immerse yourself in art, history and fine food, Peg and I heartily recommend Santa Fe. We also advise, bring your camera and your credit card. Oh, and by the way, you are cautioned that Santa Fe is at an elevation of 7,200 feet that tends to restrict one’s breathing and tire one’s legs. Copious amounts of water is a good choice of beverage

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Filed Under: Gavel Gamut, Travel Tagged With: Ben Hur, Betty Stoabs, Chapel of Loretto, Gentle Reader, Georgia O'Keeffe, Inn at Loretto, James M. Redwine, Jim Hamilton, Jim Redwine, Kay Hamilton, Lincoln's boyhood state, Osage Nation, Santa Fe, Territorial Museum, Willie Grant

Merry Christmases!!

December 22, 2023 by Peg Leave a Comment

Batumi, Georgia. Photo by Peg Redwine

Last year (2022-2023) Peg and I were in the country of Georgia on Christmas Day (December 25th). However, when we wished some of our Georgian friends “Merry Christmas”, they said as Coach Lee Corso might have said, “Not so fast”. Many Christians in that one-time Soviet Union country do not adhere to Pope Julius’ date for Jesus’ birthday as December 25, but also celebrate the Gregorian date in 2023 of January 07. Many Georgians recognize both dates and the “Christmas Season” for many others runs from December 25 of one year through the first week of January of the next.

The beautiful city of Batumi, Georgia where we worked for six months with Georgian judges was right on the Black Sea and was decorated with colored lights and yuletide trees. The streets were filled with festive shoppers and frequent carolers for two weeks as our Georgian friends showered us with home-grown wines and baklava; I was pleased to see the Christians championing the marvelous Muslim delicacies as a Christmas tradition.

Pope Julian I’s term was 337 to 352 and Pope Gregory’s was 540 to 604. They both instituted a calendar with Julian’s arbitrary date of December 25 for Christ’s birth not being contested by Gregory, but due to the new method of calculating days of the year, the date for Christmas migrated to January 7. If you are fascinated by the vagaries of how this all worked, you probably need to get out more. All Peg and I cared about was after years of only having one Christmas we now had two with Advent gaining about another two weeks. I hope Santa Claus can keep up in 2023/2024.

I have already let it be known that I am expecting gifts on both December 25, 2023 and January 7, 2024. Also, I hope that with the expansion of the Holiday Season the NCAA will finally open up the bowl season for all college football teams, not just those who have won 6 games or more. We only have 43 college football bowl games involving 86 schools now. So, if we let the other 46 or so Division I colleges play we could have another 23 bowl games between December 25 and January 07. It would certainly be better than having to watch the national news. Besides, my alma mater, Indiana University, would get to play a bowl game then.

Anyway, Peg and I say to our Georgian friends (and also to our American friends), Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night, good night!

A Selfie in Batumi, Georgia

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Filed Under: America, Football, Friends, Gavel Gamut, Personal Fun, Travel Tagged With: Batumi, Black Sea, Christmas, football, Georgia, Indiana University, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, Lee Corso, NCAA bowl season, Pope Gregory, Pope Julius

Other Countries Heard From

July 1, 2023 by Peg Leave a Comment

Photo by Peg Redwine

President Kennedy gave his inaugural address January 20, 1961 when I was a senior in high school. He was concerned about the Soviet Union’s 1957 Sputnik achievement and challenged American youth to respond. That September I entered Oklahoma State University and boldly majored in physics. By June 1962 I had learned how to smoke but not learned anything that would raise concerns in Russia. I changed my major to English and then in June 1963 decided to “ask what I could do for my country” without the headaches of college level studies. I became a 1960’s Okie and headed for California. On the way I took my first foray out of the United States to Nogales, Mexico.

My friend and fellow OSU dropout, Ed Kelso, and I drove his 1954 Mercury down to the Mexican border and were waved through without so much as a question, much less a visa. We stopped at the first bar we came to and ran into my old high school classmate Jim Reed and a few other guys from Pawhuska, Oklahoma who were there on a similar journey of cultural discovery. What I noted from my brief sojourn was my high school Spanish was sufficient as long as we had U.S. Dollars. I also received my first faint awareness of how lucky I was to have been born north of the border.

Another foreign country experience was when as a member of the National Judicial College faculty I was sent for two weeks (December 1999-January 2000) to Ukraine to teach Ukrainian judges. I liked the Ukrainian people but found their lives to be quite difficult. The judges told me they frequently did not receive their small monthly salaries and the Ukrainian government often failed to provide them and their families with promised individual family housing. Also, police corruption was in full view on the streets of Kiev and workers who were supposed to help repair such public assets as the fountain in “Freedom Square” did about as much work as I did at Oklahoma State. As the old Soviet saying went, “The government pretended to pay them and they pretended to work.” I left Ukraine with a greater appreciation of what our Founders sacrificed for us.

Then in 2003 the National Judicial College sent me to Russia for a week to teach Russian judges about jury trials. The old Soviet Union abolished jury trials after the 1917 Revolution and Russia was just reinstituting them into their legal system. Peg was able to be with me on that trip and we, once again, found the Russian judges to be friendly and gracious but the Russian culture caused us great chagrin. A good cup of coffee was truly a foreign concept, but the consumption of alcohol was quite prevalent. The idea of innocent unless proven guilty was belied by the defendants being housed in metal and plastic cages in the courtroom. And when a defendant on trial for murder was marched into the courtroom by four AK47 carrying uniformed guards right in front of the jury, my American sense of justice was assaulted. It was good to get back to my Indiana courtroom with its guarantees of equal justice. Russia was interesting, but the United States was good to come home to.

Most recently (June 2022-February 2023) Peg and I completed a six-month judicial teaching mission sponsored by the American Bar Association, the East-West Management Institute and the United States Agency for International Development. I was sent to the country of Georgia that until 1991 had been part of the old Soviet Union. My duties were to make friends, observe, work with and give suggestions to Georgian judges based upon my more than forty years of experience as an American judge.

We had a wonderful experience with the Georgian judges and our newly-made Georgian friends. They could not have treated us any better. Everyone we met was positive about our involvement and open to suggestions. We would gladly return to Georgia whenever invited. Of course, we did note substantial differences between the Georgian culture and America’s. Georgia is bordered on the north by Russia and on the south by Turkey. Twenty percent of Georgia is militarily occupied by Russia; that is a constant worry for the Georgian people. Peg and I thought how different our lives in America are. Our northern border is Canada which we visited in 2018 and is about as good a neighbor as any country could have. And our southern border is Mexico that appears to want to join us.

What this 2023 Fourth of July birthday party has helped us to reflect upon is, no matter how much CNN, MSNBC, FOX News and many in government service complain about America and malign it, many of the alternatives are pretty scary. After seeing how some of the rest of the world has to live, I find the ’ole USA absolutely marvelous. America has faults and foibles, but as Francis Scott Key wrote, it is really wonderful, “That our flag is still there.”

Photo by Peg Redwine

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Filed Under: America, Democracy, Events, Friends, Gavel Gamut, Justice, National Judicial College, Oklahoma State University, Pawhuska, Russia, Travel, Ukraine Tagged With: America, cultural discovery, Ed Kelso, Francis Scott Key, Georgia, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, Jim Reed, Mexico, National Judicial College, Oklahoma State University, Pawhuska, President Kennedy, Russia, Sputnik, Ukraine

© 2025 James M. Redwine

 

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