Peaceful beginnings

Thanks to the amazing photography of my old coach, Joel Furtek, I have been reminiscing on a part of my life that is long since past but that I still treasure dearly.  It just isn't possible to put into words all that my days rowing for UNC did to shape who I have become, but suffice it to say that it has probably been the most pivotal experience of my life.  Even compared to becoming a doctor, a wife, and a mother, rowing very literally unzipped the infant version of the person I am still becoming.  It led me to my lifelong friends, my husband, and my career, but I think most importantly, it taught me that no matter how isolatingly painful the work at hand may be, I am never going it alone and there are always people with me that depend on my ability to hold it together and find the humor and joy in the world that is rushing by not 6 inches from the gunnel.  There is just nothing more peaceful or re-energizing than skimming across a flat body of water, cutting through a cool misty fog with the pink glow of morning just beginning its dance across the horizon, and listening to the heartbeat of eight separate oars move the shell like one single organism. And to walk away one day, with the 'thunk' of the oarlocks and the splash of the catch still echoing in your mind, even years and years down the road.

Our little breech Tarheel

She may not be in the right position and she may be using her head as a battering ram against my stomach, but at least she's letting us know she's a true Tarheel. Wonder what body part she would have shown if she was a Blue Devil?

Tax Rate Madness

I blogged earlier about a personal record for our low effective tax rate this year - turns out USAToday is now reporting a similar story for America at large:

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950 - USATODAY.com:

"Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found."

Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.

Unfortunately, USAToday left a big chunk of math out of their story by omitting the cumulative effect of payroll and consumption taxes. Also, I think it is clear that our world-beating corporate tax rates combined with techniques such as the AMT undermine this sort of celebratory (but cursory) analysis. What we've got is fundamentally a tax policy problem - a cumulative rate (>60% marginal) that is too high, combined with a tax base that is far too narrow. This is a similar problem with NC's tax structure - a policy one of my professors advocates reforming in a recent law review article.

Other articles have previously pointed out that 47% of US households did not pay any income tax this year. Do you realize what is alarming about that - once we get past 51%, its very unlikely that our democracy will vote to change things back to the way they once were.

Springtime comes..

" ... But sometimes when the springtime comes,

And the sifting moonlight falls --

They'll think again of this night here
And of these old brown walls,

Of while old well, and of old South
With bell's deep booming tone,

They'll think again of Chapel Hill and --
Thinking -- come back home."

T. Wolfe.

Reconstituted

I met them in 1997. Some of us weren't even 18 yet. We were tall, excited, diverse freshmen propelled by our height to try something new. We had no clue what going out to that faithful lake on the outskirts of Carrboro would mean for our lives, both in the few short years at UNC and for the lifetime that lay on the other side of graduation.

I'm not sure exactly when in that first year these girls became an indelible part of my firmament. Perhaps it was in Pam's van at 4:45am or at the bridge with Ports to row and Starboards to back or maybe in the kitchen at Vance Street. At any rate, it happened and we've somehow managed to see each other almost semi-annually since graduation, despite being on opposite coasts with insanely busy work schedules. Through showers and weddings and graduations and now babies, we just pick right up where we left off and the hours fly by unnoticed.

This weekend was just such an occasion. The stars aligned and we were all able to meet at Lake Lure for a very brief but amazingly soul-soothing and much-needed weekend.

We've grown a bit since we met 12 years ago. There were nine of us this weekend...well ten if you count the newest and still-forming addition to our happy menagerie. Between us we have a photographer, an SF medic, a paleontologist, two engineers, a pediatrician, a family practitioner, an (almost) attorney, two insanely energetic but amazingly well behaved canines, two very quirky felines, and a snaggle-toothed 9-month old fondly referred to as 'Green 11.'

The topic of blessings came up this weekend, as it so often does when we four get together. We do a very good job of appreciating the momentous gifts we've been given and enjoying the love and laughter and happiness we all share. But, sometimes, one does have to wonder why some seem to have it so exceptionally good. Have we been given all of this to serve a higher purpose or is this a reward from past lives well lived? Have we unknowingly cultivated the foundation and are now reaping the harvest or were we just lucky enough to be born at the right place in the right time? Does one get a blessings limit, so to speak, or does one beget another like a glorious snowball?

My mother used to say "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." And while I think this is a brilliant observation, it does seem like the four of us have been bestowed an incredibly well-stacked hand. The purpose of this I have yet to identify, but I figure as long as I enjoy the heck out of my life now, it will all become clear at some point.

In the mean time, blessed I am and grateful I will always be.

Thank you Heather, Steph, and Rae (and Andras, Dan, and Matt).

Time with you always recharges me.

Tough Loss

Well, Jack's first Carolina Football game peaked early in the first quarter when the score was still tied at aught-aught. It was all downhill from there - Forget "Go to hell State," I say "Damn those Wahoos."

An entire class of Dook grads has never seen a home win. What a waste.

It wasn't just Tyler Hansbrough's clock-beating three pointer, or Tywon Lawson's incredible scoring output, or Roy William's style and class that made the latest Carolina victory in Cameron oh-so-sweet. No, it was the realization that for the Duke Class of 2009, those poor people spent $191,940 and 6 months in a tent and never got to see Duke beat Carolina.

I think Adam Lucas of Tarheelblue.com sums it up best: 

    "Duke fans believe spending 196 hours in a tent indicates passion and devotion. Carolina fans believe 196 hours in a tent indicates a telling lack of other social engagements. The undergrads inhabiting Tent 1 in Krzyzewskiville staked their claim on Dec. 26, 47 days ago. Added over four years of college life, that's 188 days--over half a year--in a tent to watch four losses. "

I love Adam Lucas. Click the link for more Carolina Blue goodness. Tar Heels Official Athletic Site