Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 12, 2024 – Perhaps my own vocational destiny was inevitable, given how well the law was represented at our end of the neighborhood. There was Judge Green next door, of course, and Dad himself, who was clerk of court, but then on the opposite corner of Rice and Green from our old house was …
APRIL 11, 2024 – (Cont.) Of all our neighbors, the first whom I observed close-up and most regularly was Judge Green, whose modest but well kempt home and lot were on the north side of our family’s original house and grounds at the corner of Rice and Green. As a little kid I assumed that …
APRIL 11, 2024 – (Cont.) When Mother and Dad built their dream house on the lot between our original house and Rathbuns, they asked the general contractor to hire ol’ John to do the plumbing. I remember well the evening when the contractor, John and several other sub-contractors appeared at our house so Dad could …
APRIL 9, 2024 – (Cont.) My daring ventures into Rathbuns’ house occurred over several times during my youngest years. Those were still the times when we could follow Mrs. Rathbun from the street all the way up the long driveway along the side of the house to the back and the only accessible entry. As …
APRIL 8, 2024 – Blogger’s note: In light (“In the darkness”?) of today’s event, this post interrupts my current series, The Neighbors. That series resumes tomorrow with a particularly amusing installment. Stay tuned. Did you hear about today’s solar eclipse across a broad swath of the United States? You didn’t? Well, I’m glad that at …
APRIL 7, 2024 – Because they were our immediate neighbors, I observed much about the Rathbuns, but based on what I later learned about them, I wish I’d inquired more when I’d had the chance. Their intense non-conformity made our family look entirely normal. A quick drive-by revealed that much about the Rathbuns was actually …
APRIL 6, 2024 – I remember well that beautiful summer day between second and third grade—warm and filled with sunshine. Lyle Roeckers, two doors down, had recently acquired an airplane and was offering rides to our family. I say “rides,” plural, because there were more of us than there were seats in the plane, and …
APRIL 5, 2024 – One thing that happens as you approach an age involving a zero and the first whole number following six is that you turn reflexively 180 degrees to feast on memories. This is understandable, since what await in the opposite direction are far fewer years and much lower prospects than what filled …
APRIL 4, 2024 – Okay, okay. Today I was determined as ever to write a political screed. I was all fired up after having digested a Times column about RFK, Jr. (Talk about setting your hair on fire!) Yet, two sentences in and I realized my opinion was of no greater worth than my description …
APRIL 3, 2024 – What I’d initially slapped on the board for this post was a sweeping and eminently quotable (I was sure) political rant. The tirade connected House Republicans’ dithering over Ukraine, yesterday’s earthquake in Taiwan, TSMC’s (Taiwan Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Co.) near global monopoly in the production of high-end chips, the devastation of life …
APRIL 2, 2024 – (Cont.) I also remember the time just before Halloween when I was kicking around the tree farm while Dad worked. I noticed large tufts of long light brown grass that looked like the tops of Viking heads full of thick uncut hair. For the longest time I tried to figure out …
APRIL 4, 2024 – (Cont.) The crazy thing was that at around this same time, Dad bought another 120 acres of similar land near the scruffy town of Zimmerman deep into the next county. To get there we had to drive through Elk River, the county of seat of Sherburne County, and past the first …
MARCH 31, 2024 – Last night I experienced a beautiful dream in which I was looking up into the royal crowns of a grove of aspens. Their bright yellow and light orange leaves stood out against a deep blue sky. A gust of air suddenly blew through the trees, producing a loud, pleasing sound like …
MARCH 30, 2024 – We’re a big, complex country; 330 million souls, an annual GDP of $26 trillion; billions of transactions and interactions each day that sustain our health, creature comforts, and better ways of life to which we’re accustomed. “Government,” as it were, plays a critical role in how we’ve organized ourselves. It legislates, …
MARCH 29, 2024 – When I heard about the “Key Bridge,” I thought of the “main” or “key” bridge serving greater Baltimore. I was not thinking about the author of the lyrics to our national anthem. The more information I absorb about the recent catastrophe and the enormous projects—recovery, clean-up and rebuilding—the more amazed I …
MARCH 28, 2024 – Trust me. I’m only half as crazy as I appear to be. But I must confess, I thoroughly enjoy the level of insanity that I’ve been able to maintain throughout most of my life—thus far. Despite my strivings to go all the way over the edge, I’ve long accepted that life …
MARCH 27, 2024 – Early this morning I woke up, checked the time—5:00—started coughing and went straight into a panic attack. It was stupid really. There was no reason for such alarm. Well, I won’t say there was no reason, but as far as I could tell there was no good reason. Except, I thought, …
MARCH 26, 2024 – On the recommendation of two friends, this evening Beth and I watched The Last Repair Shop, which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. It’s a beautiful little film featuring the musical instrument repair shop run for the benefit of student musicians of the Los Angeles public schools. …
MARCH 25, 2024 – All of us have days of gray, colored that way by one thing or another in our lives; sometimes by a whole palette of troubles that cloud out light and warmth. Today was such a day for me and many others who in these parts battled seasonal sickness compounded by ugly …
MARCH 24, 2024 – Today to distract myself from a continuously runny nose—for which over-the-counter antihistamines provide zero relief—and a continual cough (also resistant to all over-the-counter remedies), I devised various imaginary predicaments that were far worse than my actual circumstances. If nothing else, I got a few half-laughs out of the game. The first …
MARCH 23, 2024 – Last December I thought it would make a fun Christmas present to give my wife three tickets for a performance of the classic ballet, Giselle, starring Daniil Simkin and Skylar Brandt, at Northrop Auditorium 15 minutes from our house. My thought was that Beth and I could take our eight-year-old granddaughter, …
MARCH 22, 2024 – Today I watched and listened to the recording of a live performance by the Borodin Quartet, one of the oldest string quartets in the world. The 90-minute concert I listened to featured Borodin—surprise, surprise—along with Tchaikovsky (Andante cantabile from quartet no. 1, opus 11), and Schubert’s The Death and the Maiden. …
MARCH 21, 2024 – For yet another day I’ve been stuck in a neutropenic rut, but I’m treating this condition as far from hopeless. In the first place, what’s the alternative? Second, at around 11:45 this morning, just as I was about to lie down for a nap, my good oncologist, Dr. Bhaskar Kolla called. …
MARCH 20, 2024 – I’m sick. And tired. Tired of being sick; sick of being tired. On the positive side, all test results on Monday, at least were negative: in my misery then I checked into the “Urgency Room,” where the staff took swabs for the possible suspects—flu, strep, RSV, Covid-19—and x-rays to rule out …
MARCH 19, 2024 – (Cont.) One of the papers I wrote for that freshman year survey course in Western Civilization was about the sincerity of Constantine’s conversion. Was he truly committing mind, heart, and soul to Jesus or . . . being a supreme opportunist was he simply riding the rising swell of Christianity within …