Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
NOVEMBER 3, 2025 – On this fine day in the city, we left it in favor of a tour of the “Filoli Historic House and World-Class Garden” in rural San Mateo County, 40 minutes and 100 years south of San Francisco. I’d visited the attraction a little over 45 years ago[1], five years after it …
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 30, 2025 – The first highlight of our trip to San Francisco, of course, was our happy reunion with Russ and Kerri. Our connection ties back to common ancestors of Russ and me: Emma and August Svensson, our great grandparents. After introducing us to their quarters (between September and November)—and ours for the next …
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 28, 2025 – Thankfully, I’m not an alcoholic, but I’ve known people who are, and from what little I’ve learned about their struggles, I’ve heard it said that “once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic”; that at every AA meeting, participants in recovery announce themselves by name, followed by the phrase, “and I’m an alcoholic.” …
OCTOBER 27, 2025 – The other day in a conversation with a friend who happens to be a long-time business-banker client, I used the term “codgers” in reference to old guys, quickly adding in pre-emptive self-inoculation, that by way of my age, I myself (“I suppose”) qualified as a “codger.” This friend/client of mine is …
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 25, 2025 – When you spend lots of time outdoors, especially at the beginning and end of the day, you become attuned to the tilt of Earth’s axis and its effect on the duration and intensity of sun-generated heat and light. At this time of year, especially in more northern latitudes, you become acutely …
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 23, 2025 – No person alive knows for sure when and why Mother developed her “nervous tic,” as my sisters and I learned to call it, because that’s what Mother herself called it. Given her glamorous appearance in her high school yearbook picture and the photos that graced her and Dad’s wedding album—not to …
OCTOBER 22, 2025 – I’ve always enjoyed the study of history, but inevitably my principal areas of inquiry—American, European, Russian, Mediterranean, and to some extent, Middle Eastern—have been rather narrow, not to mention shallow. Comparatively speaking, my knowledge of India, China and East Asia is rather abysmal. Several years ago I caught myself remarking to …
OCTOBER 21, 2025 – When it comes to “big news,” we live in a world that’s skewed more than ever toward the transactional as opposed to the strategic. This phenomenon is driven largely by the most prominent personality in our collective long-running (ironically) short-term attention span, the current president of the United States. Everything about …
OCTOBER 20, 2025 – Over the past several days I’ve made major progress on the Pergola-on-a-Platform. Completion is within sight, though some details, such as touch-ups with a paintbrush and an attractive sign (“Mt. Orray[1] – Elev. 1,391’”) will have to wait till spring. I will miss making mistakes—and the satisfaction I derived from corrections …
OCTOBER 19, 2025 – (Cont.) I’m sure I could’ve coaxed some meaningful cash out of Timothy in exchange for what was a work of shop art. In the moment, however, I decided to let him have it, gratis. In the first place, no one in the family would ever use the bulky machine, and eventually, …
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 …