Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 3, 2025 – (Cont.) As we left behind, Byron’s office and AI-driven computer screens, I pondered the contrast between the fast-moving information of his workday and my current broad leisurely survey of Chinese history—by the increasingly old-fashioned method of reading a book. That method is flawed, I recognized: it assumes that I’m not sleep-reading …
NOVEMBER 24, 2025 – Yesterday, while I was taking full advantage of the mild Minnesota weather and stringing Christmas lights around our shrubs out front, our neighbors at the end of the block, Joan and Kent, strolled by with dogs in tow. We exchanged greetings, and the people called a mutual time-out for “catch-up” conversation, …
NOVEMBER 22, 2025 – Over the seasons throughout the years I’ve noticed that our house operates as an intricate seasonal sundial. In spring, for example, early morning sunlight peeks through the window panes of my wife’s office—forcing me off the east end of the sofa in the adjoining room, where I like to write at …
NOVEMBER 20, 2025 – The man looked about my age, maybe older, since he was engaged in a way that I would ascribe to someone who was fully retired and, well, definitely older than I am. He was wearing headphones and waders with a skirt of pouches and moving slowly in waters just beyond the …
NOVEMBER 14, 2025 – This morning I left town a full two hours later than I’d intended. As I told Beth when she asked what my hold-up was, I said, “Clients come first.” Well, most of the time, anyway. After dispensing with biz, I backed out of the driveway and stomped on the gas. Today’s …
NOVEMBER 5, 2025 – If you ask what I think about how we govern ourselves in this country, I could easily talk your ears off. You might say I’ve got some ideas on the subject. Governance per se is different from substantive public policy, however, but given how policy is formulated and implemented, governance and …
NOVEMBER 4, 2025 – Our day’s end stop Monday was at the Picchetti Winery in the rustic heights above Cupertino. The product of this +140-year-old establishment—now consisting of 9,000 cases of wine a year—is sold only through wine clubs across the country. Our tour guides, Russ and Kerri, have been members for decades and have …
NOVEMBER 2, 2025 – After falling back off daylight savings time, we should have re-calibrated our body clocks to coincide with the early morning sun. Instead, we opted for an extra hour of sleep. We didn’t launch ourselves out of the house, however, until noon. Beth and Kerri headed for Suffs, the road show version …
NOVEMBER 1, 2025 – Today we awoke to yet another day of perfect weather across one of America’s signature cities. After a high-style breakfast of gourmet (Swedish) pancakes prepared and presented by Kerri, the four of us drove to the short distance to Chinatown. Our route took us through the Tenderloin District and past a …
OCTOBER 31, 2025 – Among the people with whom we circulate, the mere mention of politics inevitably prompts expressions of despair. Fear, anger and anxiety dominate the ensuing conversations—and social media posts. There are no two ways about it, we find ourselves saying to one another: the country is circling the drain. But we owe …
OCTOBER 29, 2025 – Yesterday we flew to San Francisco to visit our inimitable California cousins, led by über-hosts Russ and Kerri. Three’s the charm: over the past year this is our third attempt to make the trip. The highlights of this journey will be the people—plenty of laughter; scintillating, full-spectrum conversations; delectable culinary experiences; …
OCTOBER 26, 2025 – Today our crew drove home from the Red Cabin so that our son Byron and his entertaining two-year-old could catch an evening flight back to Connecticut. I decided to leave the driving to him and sit in back, allowing my wife to sit up front to visit with the Connecticut Yankee. …
OCTOBER 24, 2025 – Life on earth is fleeting, and it has to be. If it were otherwise, ages ago life would’ve overwhelmed itself and its planetary host. Within this fleeting phenomenon we call “life” are fleeting moments—scenes, motions, encounters, conversations—that last but a flash. Like precious stones, these moments are special because they are …
OCTOBER 12, 2025 – As I ponder current events, I wonder how to understand matters via some metaphor; that is, what imagery best describes our circumstances? Aside from amusement value, how might a metaphorical examination of our era open doors, windows, perspectives that would allow us to grasp our predicament with greater clarity? I imagine …
OCTOBER 9, 2025 – Yesterday and today I continued work on the Pergola-on-a-Platform project and made considerable headway. The second railing on the front of the structure is now mostly in place. I should be able to complete it (the railing, not the structure) before I leave the Northwoods tomorrow for a few days. The …
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025 – I’d planned to return home today, leaving at around 2:00 to arrive home around the time our almost 10-year-old granddaughter finishes her weekly real-time, online art class. My wife signed her up for the classes, and we’ve developed the Monday routine of picking her up from school, taking her to our …
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025 – Today my wife and her traveling companions (three of her cousins) arrived back from a 12-day sojourn in Ireland. Early this morning I checked on the flight status to see if the seven-hour trip was delayed in getting under way. It had departed as scheduled. Three hours later I checked again …
SEPTEMBER 6, 2025 – The regular follower of this blog might sense a pattern of incongruity. In many posts I convey genuine optimism about life. Other posts signal deep concern about the current state of affairs afflicting our country and pessimism about our social, political, economic, and most critical, environmental prospects. How, you might ask, …
SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 – At the lake the other evening we had a clear view of the waxing gibbous moon. Our vantage point was the end of our dock, facing south over the water. The Moon occupied center stage in the darkening sky, and we watched in awe its brilliant performance. Of course, we’d attended …
AUGUST 26, 2025 – As is the case with many of my fellow members of the species, I am a person of episodic obsession. When we were building the Red Cabin and in the market for a wood-burning stove, about all I could think about during waking hours and in my dreams was . . …
AUGUST 24, 2025 – I was going to write about something else today, except late in the proceedings—at around 6:30 this evening—I experienced a “Voilá!” moment that inspired me to write about something different altogether. Readers all too familiar with my Pergola-on-a-Platform shouldn’t be surprised that the “Voilá!” moment occurred while I was working on …
AUGUST 22, 2025 – Yesterday I wrote about mastery, and as I pondered that concept further today, I thought of its companion—specialization. Just as I can claim mastery over very little in life, so too I lack any notable specialization. Sure, you could consider me a “real estate lawyer” professionally or go out on a …
AUGUST 13, 2025 – Today (now yesterday) my wife and I spent in a kind of nirvana—otherwise the Red Cabin in the company of our younger son, his wife and their two-year-old son. For one more full day at the lake, we got to interact with the little guy and watch him absorb all that …
AUGUST 9, 2025 – The gathering had been in the works for a while. Our immediate family (and our sons’ families) would spend a few precious days this month at the Red Cabin on the northwest shore of Grindstone Lake in northwest Wisconsin. Joining us would be Kumar[1] and Emma, close friends of Byron and …
AUGUST 2, 2025 – Lately, I’ve been torn. In these troubled times . . . Do I climb onto the rooftop to shout “The sky is falling!” or do I crawl into the wine cellar to mumble, “Uh, um, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just grab another bottle of grape sauce …