Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
OCTOBER 18, 2025 – Blogger’s note: The third and final installment of the series, “Seeing the Past in the Present” will be posted tomorrow. I’ve heard it said that we live in news and information silos in which we’re fed a steady diet of our own unwavering opinions; that we need to step out of …
OCTOBER 17, 2025 – (Cont.) At exactly the appointed time, an older burgundy RAM-Tough pick-up pulling a small trailer pulled up to the cabin. Out stepped a couple of guys from the reservation. The driver introduced himself as “Timothy,” with whom I’d spoken twice by phone to make arrangements. His handshake exuded confidence and character. …
OCTOBER 16, 2025 – Today the past was the present. By way of background, late this morning I drove up to the Red Cabin/Björnholm to meet a prospective buyer of miscellaneous old equipment that has been parked/stored at Björnholm for years beyond accurate count by anyone in the family. My brother-in-law Chuck had tentatively sold …
OCTOBER 15, 2025 – Recently, a friend with years of observing and participating in the world, told me that the two things she worries about most for her children and grandchildren are (a) climate change; and (b) our democracy. I would put those same two concerns at the top of the list. Nearly all other …
OCTOBER 14, 2025 – In litigation a conflict of interest can arise between the lawyer and the lawyer’s own client. It works something like this: in the spirit of “zealous advocacy,” a standard to which every lawyer is ethically bound, but more pragmatically, in the interest of racking up billable hours, the lawyer convinces the …
OCTOBER 13, 2025 – Today on the evening news, I watched the emotional reunion of Israeli hostages with their loved ones. No one with a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a spouse, or any other loved one and who isn’t devoid of all emotion would not be moved by the images. As I …
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 11, 2025 – Our favorite (at least until the next one arrives) granddaughter is a regular reminder that however we might feel about the prospects—for the health of the earth’s biosphere, the survival of democracy in America (such as it has been), global peace and security in the short run, intermediate term or long …
OCTOBER 10, 2025 – Yesterday I wrote about perfection. Today while working on the pergola I focused on details. Details can be quite apart from perfection, but perfection inevitably comprises details. As my dad said of musical performance, a “wobble” here or a “warble” there—details—might not matter, but the cumulative effect of too many such …
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 …
OCTOBER 8, 2025 – Back in the day I used darts, not dice, to decide when to take the boat(s) out of the lake at the end of the season. Beginning in mid-September I’d simply keep my eye on the weekend weather forecast and a few days in advance of a Saturday or Sunday with …
OCTOBER 7, 2025 – Over the years I’ve met numerous interesting people who live along my walking route to and from “Little Switzerland.”[1] With some of these folks I’ve enjoyed extensive conversations about a host of subjects. One standout is a fellow, Phillip, eight years my senior, whose house is on the “Matterhorn” overlooking the …
OCTOBER 6, 2025 – Today in accordance with our Monday routine, our fourth grader granddaughter came to our house after school for her weekly online (Zoom) drawing class, followed by a simple supper before her dad picked her up on his way home from work. She’s always such delightful company. As we enjoyed our meal …
OCTOBER 5, 2025 – Over supper this evening back home, my wife and I watched some cable TV news. Big mistake. Giving us a bad case of indigestion were Trump’s weekend speech touting a trillion-dollar military budget and Hegseth’s “warrior talk” about using the military against American civilians in blue cities. These reports were chased …
OCTOBER 4, 2025 – Today we and our Red Cabin guests awoke to unseasonably warm weather and a stiff breeze sweeping out of the south across the lake. Beth served from a large pot of coffee, while I fixed a breakfast of oatmeal and side dishes of fruit, nuts, and an assortment of natural sweeteners. …
OCTOBER 3, 2025 – This season the water level of Grindstone Lake has taken a hit. Although rainfall has been slack, and additional problem has been DNR control of a small dam way downstream from our spring-fed lake, which forms the headwaters. The condition triggered a major local political re-action, which prompted the town board …
OCTOBER 2, 2025 – (Cont.) Our family’s weekend routine back in those days was to leave for the lake as soon as I arrived home from work and changed out of my “lawsuit,” as our older son, Corydon, called my sartorial norm. To hasten our departure, Beth would have the car packed and ready to …
OCTOBER 1, 2025 – Progressive Insurance has long entertained us with a brilliant ad campaign featuring the fictitious “Dr. Rick,” who conducts seminars to help new homeowners avoid turning into their parents. Of course, we Boomers, especially, laugh at these vignettes because they remind us of ourselves—and our parents. Today while working on the cabin …
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 – Today I’d planned on more Zen, more nirvana; after all, I was still at the Red Cabin, our “Shangri-La,” still working on the “Pergola-on-a-Platform” project. But on some days, the Buddhist ideal remains high up in the clouds when you find yourself down in the lowland weeds. Straight out of 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 28, 2025 – (Cont.) At the outset of my Pergola-on-a-Platform project, I’d scoped out a site inside the 20-acre (give or take) tree garden behind the lake frontage. I sought the intersection of three geographic features. The first was one of the trails that crisscross the garden. I imagined that the pergola platform would …
SEPTEMBER 27, 2025 – Fifty years from now, historians studying our era will try to tease out the underlying ingredients and catalysts and analyze their interactions. I say 50 years, because as the great German historian, Leopold von Ranke (1795 – 1886) purportedly advocated, no history worth reading can be written without the perspective of …
SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 – Sorry, Minnesota, Ramsey County and St. Paul: I used to shop at the Midway Menards store near our house. During the week I’d load up on supplies and materials for DYI projects at the Red Cabin and on weekends, ferry them up to the Northwoods. But recently I noticed I’d been …
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 24, 2025 – I’d heard it was “bad”—really bad—but until I later watched the video of Trump’s speech before the UN General Assembly I had no idea just how bad his performance was. To my friends, family members, and acquaintances who to this day either actively support or acquiesce in this mad man’s continuation …