Letters: We Americans need to connect with each other

Seven years ago, my wife bought me a terrific birthday present. For $70 (now $80), she rented me two garden plots of land 20 feet by 20 feet from the Skokie Park District, which come with access to fresh water from spigots, no charge. The football field of garden is a true place of beauty, costing the Park District very little to operate, with the water pipes being the sole initial capital investment.

My experience and that of my garden neighbors is that gardening is good exercise accessible to people far into late middle age and beyond, deeply therapeutic and beloved by couples and groups of friends, whether native-born and immigrant Americans. My garden neighbors and I, once strangers, share ideas and encouragement. My daughter loves to help me harvest the wild dill weed, and the whole family loves the good fresh food, some of which I give to friends and neighbors.

I invest about $300 to 400 a year and harvest literally 10 times the value of fresh produce — and I’m far from the best gardener!

I’m writing this on July Fourth because our country needs help. We need to connect with one another while respecting each other as individuals, as carriers of subcultures, as positive people. Human difference is easier to accept with dignity when we know each other and are building something together. Jonathan Sacks wrote books about this.

And who doesn’t need to have fun and get some exercise and eat great food? Community gardening is a wholly positive activity, one that I humbly suggest should be on a Park District agenda to implement on a meaningful scale similar to Skokie’s, in many more hometowns.

— Dan Alexander, Skokie

We won the birth lottery

In Sunday’s Voice of the People section, I heartily agree with Henry J. Wilson’s sentiments in his inspiring and focused letter “Our republic is still flourishing,” in which he states, “America belongs to tomorrow.” I am encouraged to find a fellow patriot with a positive view of our nation’s future.

I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s. I witnessed the civil rights movement, the free love movement and the Vietnam War and its attendant protests and social upheaval; honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and other national heroes; lamented the lack of integrity in the Watergate episode; was amazed at the number of Illinois governors being incarcerated; laughed at the Grateful Dead; served proudly in the Army; and, throughout it all, loved my nation and loved being an American.

Those of us who were born in the USA won the birth lottery, and we are joined by those who came as more recent immigrants. This is the land of opportunity — especially for those willing to work for it — but not so much for those waiting for someone to hand it to them.

A healthy democracy is messy. It’s working well if differing opinions and expectations are allowed to be freely expressed and discussed. Our democracy and our country are continuously evolving and developing, and, as part of that process, we are continuously changing and improving. Is it a perfect society or is every change an improvement? Certainly not, but that is part of the process. Our process is healthy, and we are actively working to improve — keys to a thriving democracy.

There are current issues — gun violence, racial prejudice, economic imbalance, election process mistrust, Capitol riots, etc. — that we are working on and will eventually solve.

On July Fourth, and every day after, celebrate our independence, our democracy and our continuous evolution as a free people. We are the leading democratic republic in the history of the world, and we are headed toward a “millennium of miracles.”

— Robert B. Hamilton, Wauconda

Boosting my productivity

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi in her article “Supercharge your productivity” (July 2) sure confirmed what I did while working. I was a computer programmer, and I spent most lunch hours going for a half-hour, half-mile lap swim at Eckhart Park on Chicago Avenue down the street from my workplace.

I don’t know how many times I’d be hitting the proverbial wall trying to resolve a coding or logic issue, then figuring it out while swimming. When I did not go swimming, I’d go for a long walk to downtown to see what was going on or catch some noontime event at Daley Plaza. I’d get back to the office refreshed and ready to go.

It’s unfortunate that I have not continued that routine in retirement.

— Mario Caruso, Chicago

Riccardo Muti’s final concert

I enjoyed Hannah Edgar’s fine review of Riccardo Muti’s final concert as Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director (“‘Concert for Chicago’ closes a Muti-CSO era,” June 29). She brought the music to life for me — it was almost as if I were in the audience! However, I disagree with her comment that Muti usually does not look “‘happy’ on the podium.”

After a number of years of watching him conduct, the last two years from a seat on the main floor of Orchestra Hall, I can report that he frequently exchanges smiles with the players and very much seems “happy” conducting them.

He has certainly said as much on many occasions.

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— Bill Hinchliff, Chicago

Recapturing joy of outdoor fun

What a good column by Shakeia Taylor (“Remembering carefree days of summer sports,” June 29). It brought back memories of street softball (no chips on windows!) and red light, green light and summer outdoor fun as kids. It was great hanging out with your friends. Playing catch with your dad.

She recommends adults should gather their friends and recapture that feeling. We can find friends over the pickleball court almost every evening about 5 p.m. And I often get a chance to play with my kids and grandkids on the pickleball court.

Hope you all get and take the chance to get out and play something while the weather is nice.

— Don Mueggenborg, Lemont

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