* * Second Amendment Sanctuary County we’re not

Monday, December 16 was an evening I’ll remember for a long time. It was either a textbook illustration of American democracy in action or the beginning of the end of our nation as we have always known it. Time will tell.

Along with hundreds of my fellow Montgomery Countians, I attended a meeting of the Board of Supervisors at their regular meeting in the Government Center in Christiansburg. There was other business to debate and vote on, but it was clear that the hundreds of people in attendance were there for a singular purpose: to make their opinions heard on a proposed measure to pass a resolution on becoming a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary.

This resolution arose on the heels of the November 5^th election, after Democrats gained majority control of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Already, all five state-wide offices were held by Democrats: Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and two US Senators. Those General Assembly Democrats, working with a like-minded Governor Northam, had pledged to push for a series of gun-control measures.

Already many counties and cities, mostly in the rural areas of the state, had passed such a resolution. It was Montgomery’s turn to consider it, and passions were high.

The room was clearly divided into two camps, one sporting round red “Guns Save Lives” stickers and the other with competing “Background Checks Save Lives,” and “Kindness Saves Lives,” stickers. The venue has no metal detectors, so I’m guessing many in the former camp came packing heat. Tensions were high. Each speaker was given 5 minutes to speak their minds, and their presentations went on well past midnight.

Hearing those impassioned pleas were seven Board members, four Republicans – all men, and three Democrats – all women. One might have guessed that the former would support the resolution and the latter would oppose it. Most substantive issues before the board in recent months had faced a party line vote, with the majority Republicans always winning. To the surprise of some, former Board Chairman Tuck sided with the Democrats and the measure failed 4-3.

So what happened and what was this about?

Tuck explained his vote saying that the sanctuary designation is not legally binding, as the county can’t supersede state law. Quoting his general support for the Second Amendment, he said, “I don’t want to give a false impression that citizens would be safe or free of prosecution.”

This is consistent with Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s advisory opinion that these measures have “no legal effect,” saying that localities “cannot nullify state laws” and must follow any measures passed by the legislature. In other words, the entire resolution effort, even though passed by a number of counties, was frivolous. 

The impetus for this process originated from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, an organization whose stated goal is “Defending your right to defend yourself,” by opposing any new laws they believe violate the Second Amendment.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t work that way. We learned in 12^th grade government class that the legislature writes the laws, the executive (in this case the governor) enforces the laws, and the courts interpret the laws. Any laws thought to be unconstitutional would be quickly challenged in the courts, and if found unconstitutional immediately be struck down. How it doesn’t work is for citizens, or counties bound by state laws, making their own decisions. That’s the recipe for anarchy.

Interestingly many of the speakers I heard argued their fear that the incoming legislature would pass these laws “against the will of the majority.” That simply isn’t true: the majority of Virginians voted in those Democrats. Elections matter.

Governor Northam had called a special session of the General Assembly on July 9 to debate and implement common sense gun restrictions to curb future violence. Northam proposed universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers. He also asked to reinstate Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month law, require lost and stolen firearms be reported to police within 24 hours. The governor was within his power to compel such a session, but he couldn’t force any action. Recalcitrant Republicans did nothing. Perhaps if those Republicans had done their jobs and answered the needs of our fellow citizens, they’d have won.

What’s so disappointing to me is that this type of fervor is reserved for this issue, while bread and butter issues like schools and roads are afterthoughts, uninteresting to most citizens.

Let’s be clear, Democrats are not going to pass laws that send jack-booted thugs to the homes of law-abiding citizens to confiscate their weapons. Instead, these laws have large majority support.

Hopefully this issue will die quietly, the hysteria will quell, and the legislature and our local boards and law enforcement officers can return to their work, providing safe, healthy and prosperous communities. 

* * Black walnut syrup, anyone?

There’s nothing better than real maple syrup on a tall stack of blueberry pancakes. But have you ever thought of black walnut syrup? It turns out that several trees generate the right type of sugar water to make edible syrup.

Tom Hammett is a Virginia Tech forestry professor who has been studying the syrup industry and looking for ways to build the market and interest in alternative syrups. I spoke with him in his 100+ year old home in Ellett Valley, surrounded by wooden shelves, floors, and doors.

“Through experimentation and research around here,” Tom said, “the idea of making syrup from other trees has emerged. Birch is the most explored and most popular alternative to maple, especially north of here in colder regions of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine.”

Tom works in the College of Natural Resources and the Environment. He says, “That’s important because we’re trying to connect the use of land with people. We have a close association with the forests here. That’s the focus of my work, the relationship between people and the land to include products that don’t just involve chopping down trees. My trail led to maple syrup because of that.

“We’re not against cutting down trees. The forests to be managed need some harvesting. They’ll be less productive to us if not managed. When you think about the forest, you need to think more than just trees. You need to think for example about the watersheds, and the ability of forests to filter rainwater. You need to think about recreation. You need to think about wildlife. There are hundreds of other products, like medicinal plants, dietary supplements, fibers, decorative plants like Christmas trees, and food like fruits and nuts.

“Then there’s wind protection. Water erosion control. I mentioned wildlife, for viewing and food.

“Managing the forest ecosystem is more than just fuel firewood and timber. Traditional forest management is just for timber, but it’s more than that.

“Any tree that has a sap with a high sugar content is a candidate for syrup. Maple is one of the highest and is the most successful. Here in Virginia we’re looking at sweet gum. We have more sweet gum east and south of here. Red maple is also possible, but has less sugar than sugar maple.

“Traditionally even in this area were sugar maple boils, where local people would bring their sap to a central location for a community event.”

Tom said our forests are doing well around here. Forests have recovered from all the clear-cutting early in the 20^th Century and before. He has worked extensively internationally as well, perhaps a half-dozen countries in the last five years. The rest of the world views forests, in many cases, as a closer relationship. People go into the woods more often to collect firewood, hunt animals or mushrooms. One third of the world’s people have contact with the forests every day; that’s over 2,000,000,000 people! They get much of their food protein from the forests. Forests are resilient, we depend upon them whether we interact with them or not, and we can use the forests indefinitely if we do so sustainably.

What’s interesting about syrup is that it has only one ingredient: sap. Nothing else is added. You take 40 gallons of sap and boil off 39 gallons of water and what’s left is the syrup.

Tom continued, “Consumers are not used to the taste of these other syrups. In northern states, people are accustomed to birch syrup. People are making sycamore syrup and black walnut syrup. I would say that of the alternative syrups, birch and black walnut have the most potential. Around here, most people are accustomed to corn syrup based products that mimic maple syrup. They are not true maple syrups. They have the maple taste, although artificial.

“Now, these others are boutique items, mostly for high-end restaurants, where chefs are always looking for new tastes. Black walnut grows prolifically around here. The trees grow fast, mostly near forest and field edges. The timber is desirable. The husks of the walnut can be used for things like tea and livestock bedding. It’s well identified and widespread around here.

“We are now getting potential producers and consumers interested. These need to happen coincidentally. It will be expensive at first, but the greater the demand the lower the price will go. The price now is around $150 per gallon.

“Black walnut has a distinguished taste, but very good. It has a darker color. Sycamore syrup has a lighter color and less intensity. Consumers farther south like darker syrups like molasses. To the north, they like lighter colors.

“They all have high nutritional value. They’re natural products, delicious. You don’t have to kill the tree to obtain them. What’s not to like?”

* * It's okay to lose an election

Without the acquiescence of the defeated, our democracy will collapse.

What do I mean by that? Since our nation began, too few voters have decided who will govern us, knowing that while voting for winners is better, voting for losers is tolerated. When our favorite candidate loses the election or when our favorite party ends up in the minority, we suck it up, continue to live by the rules and laws of the land, and if we’re motivated, work to turn things around in the next election. Ideas are formulated and articulated, and then the voters have their say. Defeats can seem devastating at the time, but they seldom are. Life goes on.

Case in point: I ran for the Virginia House of Delegates six years ago in the 7^th District, encompassing much of south Montgomery County, all of Floyd County, and much of Pulaski County. My joke goes that I ran a successful campaign, but not as successful as my opponent. I ran as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district, and although I did as well as other Democrats before and after me, it wasn’t enough to win.

But you know what? That’s fine.

As a career businessman, I truly felt that I had a better grasp of the economic issues of the district. But my opponent had a better grasp of its social issues. Many of the voters with whom I spoke were focused on guns, gays, and abortions rather than the economy. They got the delegate they wanted; I would not have represented them well. I wasn’t happy about it, but it’s not the end of the world.

Things seem to have changed, at least in the mind of many of the nation’s gun owners.

Perhaps you’ve heard there is a movement to declare many of our counties “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” Presumably these are places that either on a personal or civic level, or both, any laws thought to threaten the rights of gun owners would be ignored. This is madness.

Part of the impetus for this effort was sparked by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed gun-regulation bills, put forth during the summer after still another horrific mass shooting in the state, this one in Virginia Beach. That plan was dead on arrival at a Republican controlled General Assembly. Now after the November 3 election, Democrats made historic gains, and when the new Assembly is inaugurated, they will be in control of both the House of Delegates and the Senate. They’ll have free reign to pass laws as they see fit. Many opinion polls show that many gun restrictions have widespread support that those legislators feel.

Gun owners are apoplectic. Let’s be clear: any “sanctuary” designation is not legally binding. But it could impact the work of law enforcement officials who are tasked with using public funds to restrict, as some see it, any Second Amendment rights.

But here’s how our system works. The voters elect their delegates, senators, governor, lt. governor, and attorney general. The delegates and senators write the laws. The governor signs them in. And then we, the people, obey them, or risk consequences. If those laws are deemed unconstitutional, they can, should, and will be challenged. If successfully challenged, they will be overturned or modified. But citizens don’t have the legal right to decide which laws they deem constitutional and thus worthy of compliance. If that were the case, we’d have anarchy.

Might I add here parenthetically that elections matter?

All the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are open to interpretation. That’s what the courts are for. 

The Second Amendment has been challenged repeatedly since it was written, with I think its deliberately questionable phrasing. What is meant by a "militia"? Is one citizen a militia? What does it mean to be "well regulated"? What is "arms"? Is a rocket-propelled grenade "arms"?

The Supreme Court's "Heller" decision gave certain rights to individuals to own weapons. To many gun rights people, it is a godsend. To its critics, it is among the SC's worst decisions.

While our Constitution is giving rights to gun owners, as citizens we should accept responsibilities. It is irresponsible, in my opinion, to intimidate fellow citizens. Imagine a room filled with people discussing a contentious issue, and half or more are armed. Would you feel intimidated if you were in the minority? I would. Is the solution to carry a bigger weapon?

And it is intimidating to rally sentiment against laws that were passed by freely elected legislatures. It’s intimidating to proclaim that gun regulations will be ignored by our citizens and lawbreaking will be tolerated by our police.

That’s madness. It’s how our country dies.

* * Where are the grandkids?

I’m in my 60’s now, the second child in a family of four. Many of my friends were from families with equal or more kids. Nowadays, family sizes are smaller and young married couples are postponing children or not having them at all. It’s no surprise why.

Here are just a few obstacles to childbearing in America today:

First, giving birth is exceedingly expensive, in fact the most expensive developed nation on earth. Average rates for uninsured mothers are around $32,000, then upwards of $50,000 for C-section births. This is the financial equivalent of a new car, the down payment on a house, or a couple of years at a university. If there are problems during delivery, the cost can arch over $100,000, and far beyond if the baby is deformed or disabled. In many other developed nations charges are a tenth of ours, and they have lower, not greater, mortality rates for both mother and infant.

Second, once the baby is born, unlike most industrialized countries, there is no national mandate for parental leave. Most young couples cannot afford not to work.

Third, over the first few years of the child’s life, because most couples can’t afford to live on the father’s income alone, there is no national mandate for child care either. Most new moms are too exhausted to work full-time jobs. Because part-time jobs pay notoriously poor wages, if she does choose to work, often she needs to pay all her income to the care provider. Each child can cost the parents the monthly equivalent of rental on an apartment. With childcare fees being based on a per-child rate, having multiple children is prohibitive for most couples. Only when the child reaches kindergarten age are the parents somewhat relieved from daily care duties and expenses.

Wages have remained stagnant for most blue-collar and many white-collar jobs since the Reagan administration, yet costs continue to rise. Therefore, many people simply can’t afford to procreate and adequately take care of a family.

Ironically, it seems that those couples, and sometimes single moms, least financially able to take care of their kids are the ones having them, placing a burden on the rest of us through various assistance programs.

One friend of mine in his early thirties is pursuing a unique solution; he and his wife are moving to New Zealand!

Admittedly, Tom (not his real name, as he’s in the visa process and asked not to be identified) and his wife’s intentions to start a family are not the only reasons for moving to the other side of the world. But it’s a big reason.

He said both his and his wife’s parents often ask, “‘Where are the grandkids?’ We tell them it’s not easy to afford them.”

Tom has a graduate degree in engineering from Virginia Tech where I met him, so he’s been able to secure good, high-paying jobs in the past. But when he was laid off from his last job as an aerospace engineer, he decided to broaden his horizons to encompass the rest of the world, including New Zealand where he and his wife spent their honeymoon. They’re now planning their move.

In New Zealand, the cost to the family to deliver a child is a fraction of ours. A national program of socialized medicine covers most of the cost, and another program of nationalized childcare means both Tom and his wife can continue their careers if they wish without the weighty burden of day-care.

As I mentioned, the benefits they see to starting a family there are not the sole reasons they want to move. They’re tired of the rancor and political instability they feel here in the USA. And they’re eager for adventure that living in a new country will bring. But still, having and raising a baby in here has become a major roadblock, not just for them but for millions of other couples in prime child-bearing age.

He told me about his future home, “Their pace of life there is slower, and people seem to live more peacefully, not always feeling like someone is taking money from their pockets.”

In America, births are occurring slower than deaths. We’re making up this loss of population through immigration, something the current administration is trying to curtail. Countries with aging populations struggle to maintain entitlement programs because contributions from younger people paying into the system are needed as older people pull money from it. And of course, we lose on the skills and contributions people like Tom and his wife bring to our national economy.

Obviously, moving to another nation is not a common solution to this problem. But it’s a shame it’s a problem at all for young American to have more difficulty raising a family than their parents or grandparents.

* * Emily Hutchins is up early

Talking to Emily Hutchins, you don’t get the impression that she set out to live an inspirational life; it just sorta happened.

“Exercise is a big part of my life,” she told me as we sat in a Blacksburg café one morning recently. I had been looking to talk with some people who broke what we think of as a normal “to bed at 11 p.m., up at 7 a.m.” schedule, and she came my way. A woman in her mid-30s, she proved to have a great story in her young adult life.

She grew up on a farm in Craig County and always lived an active, outdoor lifestyle. “I’m a morning person. I typically get up around 4:50 a.m. I didn’t really get into the morning routine until after college. My parents took us hiking every Sunday and my dad was a runner. I did sports in high school. I went to Craig County High School and there were only 45 kids or so in the graduating class.

“I’ve always felt that exercise, movement and being outside are foundations of a happy life. Trail running is my main activity; I love it! I do ultra-racing, greater than marathon distances. I got into that four years ago. I’ve done two 50 mile races this year, one in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. It was in June and there was still lots of old snow on the ground. It took me 13 hours, from 4 a.m. until 5 p.m. So I started in the dark.

“I run and walk, moving over the terrain as efficiently as possible, fueling myself with plenty of food and water. I’m constantly tweaking my routine. I eat lots of quick energy gels and other energy foods.”

Emily told me that five days a week she’s active before 7 a.m. She goes to bed between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Exercise bicycles. Track running. Yoga in heated rooms. Meditation. Then she’s refreshed, alert and alive, ready for her job in fund raising at Virginia Tech. “I work out for an hour between 6 and 7 (a.m.) and then I shower and sit in the sauna listening to an app called ‘Calm’ which is a guided meditation. It helps to clear the mind chatter.

“I started meditating last year to help me get through a difficult time.”

Brace yourself. Emily had a brain tumor.

“Last December I had brain surgery. A tumor was discovered in the front part of my brain. I have a scar from here to here,” she waved across her head above her forehead, “It was found in August on an MRI and removed in December. I had a successful operation at UVA to remove it.”

It was about 8:00 a.m. when we spoke. Emily said she’d been up since 4:45 a.m. that morning. “I packed my bag last night for the gym, as well as the clothes I’d wear to work. I’m all about being efficient. I set the coffee pot the night before. I might journal a bit. I’m out the door about 5:20. I did spin class (on an exercise bicycle). I sat in the sauna, did meditation, then showered in 15 minutes and came here. I get to work every morning before 8:00. I’m usually the first person there. I leave by 4:30.

“I have all this energy; I’m high on endorphins. I’m addicted to that feeling that you get after exercise and meditation. With my job, I travel a lot. I always make time for exercise and fun. I’m going to San Francisco and I’m going to run through Golden Gate Park with a woman who runs trails.

“The older I get, the better I feel. I advocate for a healthy lifestyle. I get lots of interesting responses and hear lots of excuses. People are not able to implement positive habits. People say they don’t have time or enough money for a gym membership. But it may be the best money they’ll ever spend. They don’t make time for self-care. People need to find time to build exercise and movement into their day. If you make it important, you are in charge of your time, and you will find a way.

“I did my first 50-mile run just before brain surgery. It was in the North Carolina mountains. It was extremely hard, very intense, with lots of heavy rain and terrible mud. Half the racers dropped out. The only reason I persevered was that I know I was not going to be able to run or even walk for awhile afterwards. I was determined to finish.

 “I feel that I’ve been able to excel in my career because I take care of my body and I manage my time well. It’s all related to how I feel. When you’ve run 50 miles, you feel like you can do anything.”