Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 5, 2020 – Yesterday afternoon I split town for the Red Cabin to take advantage of some unusually mild weather over the next several days. Because of the pandemic, I’ve spent more time in the woods this year than ever before. I call it—the woods, not the pandemic—“imagination paradise,” a place where nature stirs …
DECEMBER 4, 2020 – Yesterday evening I listened to CNN’s Jake Tapper interview Biden and Harris. Their joint appearance revealed how their remarkable partnership is developing—for the good of the country. I must confess that in early Democratic debates, Biden didn’t form a positive impression with me. He looked “over the hill,” a bit of …
DECEMBER 3, 2020 – Yesterday I received a call from a lawyer asking me for advice about a case he’s working on. His client was pressing to “buy time” by bringing what I call a “monkey-wrench” motion to derail an upcoming hearing on the opposing side’s motion to dismiss. Although the lawyer offered to pay …
DECEMBER 2, 2020 – Recently, I launched a new project: studying Korean. I’m working from a beginner’s book given to me by our younger son’s birth mother, whom we’ve gotten to know quite well. So far, I’ve tackled, if not mastered, the letters (Hangul)—10 vowels, 14 consonants. This effort is akin to that of an …
DECEMBER 1, 2020 – In downsizing files that occupy too much household storage space, I’ve uncovered many ancient relics. Some are so amusing, I should be charging myself admission. Take for example a bound, 33-page handout from a 1999 Continuing Legal Education seminar, entitled, “Internet Legal Research ‘101’.” The first heading was, “What is the …
NOVEMBER 30, 2020 – Unless you’re Norwegian, you’ve probably never heard of Jan Baalsrud. I hadn’t until the Netflix movie, The 12th Man. As I later learned from a 2016 New York Times magazine article, the film accurately portrays actual events. (The scenery’s out-of-this-world . . . because it’s in Norway.) Baalsrud was part of …
NOVEMBER 29, 2020 – Late last night, after hauling out the garbage I stopped in the middle of the driveway and gazed at Orion and his entourage. I then did something unscientific: I made “a wish upon a star.” I then did something more scientific: I pondered the compound odds of (a) “intelligent” life existing …
NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to “Little Switzerland” (a nearby hilly park) and my daily hike, I saw a couple walking toward me up the sidewalk. To maintain social distancing, I hurried to reach the break-away point before the other two walkers. As I peeled into the closest “canton,” the …
NOVEMBER 27, 2020 – Just as a professor aspiring to tenure must worry as much about politics as about the quality of her/his scholarship, so must Biden/Harris, desirous of re-election and relevance, worry as much about politics as about policy success—otherwise, they will be remembered more for their contributions to Habitat for Humanity after leaving …
NOVEMBER 26, 2020 – Fourteen years ago, I read Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. It was stuffed with unflattering images from our past, such as an Indian head on a pike—the Pilgrim’s equivalent of “Don’t Tread on Me!” Ever since, I’ve winced a little at the mention of “Thanksgiving.” But I shouldn’t. Examination of details of …
NOVEMBER 25, 2020 – Yesterday I watched Biden’s live, televised introduction of his foreign policy and national security team and the individual presentations that followed: Antony Blinken, Secretary of State; Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence; Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security; Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Ambassador to the UN; Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor; John Kerry, …
NOVEMBER 24, 2020 – Among the 79 million who voted for Biden/Harris, many of us are concerned about the long-term damage that the Trump has done to our democracy by his baseless claim of voter fraud and other electoral irregularities. His rantings and ravings about a “stolen” election would have little impact if a big …
NOVEMBER 23, 2020 – Recently I read the opinion tweeted by actor Edward Norton: there’s a method to Trump’s post-election madness. According to Norton, who’s no “hulking” slouch, Trump’s refusal to concede and his attempts to disrupt and destroy are designed for negotiating leverage against the certainty of prosecution and probability of prison. I’m not …
NOVEMBER 22, 2020 – With our world in turmoil (besides this being the anniversary of JFK’s assassination), there’s no dearth of topics for today’s post. For respite, therefore, I turn to something out of this world. I spent the past several days (and nights) at the Red Cabin. Whenever I’m there I see one wonder …
NOVEMBER 21, 2020 – Out of an unhappy event—the death of my brother-in-law Dean (See 10/26 post)—in these unhappy times, emerged the most uplifting experience since the onset of the pandemic. Yesterday, Dean’s oldest daughter, Hillary, arranged for a Zoom meeting among family and friends to share remembrances. Some of the people I knew; most …
NOVEMBER 20, 2020 – (Cont.) Dad liked shattering clay pigeons, but neither that experience nor the shooting of the woodchuck turned him into a gun person; certainly not a hunter. Dad was counter-culture. I didn’t know a single boy (I didn’t ask the girls) in my class who didn’t hunt with his dad. During duck- …
NOVEMBER 19, 2020 – Dad wasn’t a hunter or a gun owner, but a day arrived when he needed to borrow a gun. A short while later arrived the day when he fired the gun. I wasn’t directly on hand when he pulled the trigger. I was nine years old and riding my oversized bike …
NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – Despite our real-life struggles to avoid danger, eschew evil, and experience peace, we flock to entertainment that features terror, conflict, and villainy. I’m talking, for example, about the Xfinity series, Yellowstone, recommended to us by trusted friends. My wife and I are now deep into the show. It offers something for …
NOVEMBER 17, 2020 – On my walk yesterday evening I encountered a neighbor. In the cold air we stopped—about 20 feet from each other—to chat. The conversation started out with a light-hearted exchange of pleasantries but soon turned dark, as nightfall consumed the dusk and our conversation switched to . . . politics. We grappled …
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 – Jeff Oppenheim, my close friend and college roommate, and I share many common interests—history, politics, travel, worldview, lawyering, community service, the great outdoors, and . . . Appalachia. I don’t mean to offend readers who possess prideful attachment to the aforesaid region of our great land. Appalachia is replete with natural …
NOVEMBER 15, 2020 – My parents worried about “liberals.” Liberals favored consolidation of school districts and public libraries; they usurped local municipal authority by passing legislation that created a metropolitan-wide “council.” And of course liberals raised taxes to pay for “government programs” that my parents viewed as wasteful and ineffectual. At the national level, my …
NOVEMBER 14, 2020 – I often play a mind game in which I encounter someone from generations, centuries, even millennia ago or . . . an intelligent being from some other part of the cosmos altogether. My leading question is, “What amazes you most about ‘my’ world?” In the case of nearly every imaginary past …
NOVEMBER 13, 2020 – To distract myself further from the news, yesterday evening I watched the 2001 German film, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me. It’s based on an allegedly true story, later fully debunked, about a German POW sentenced to 25 years in a post-World War II gulag prison camp on the …
NOVEMBER 12, 2020 – Tuesday brought a much-needed diversion from politics: a plunge in temperature followed by sleet, then snow. My drive home from an appointment near the capitol was a nerve-wracking expedition—streets were an icy mess, and banana-peel-inclines were especially problematic. At one hilltop intersection I had no traction when the light turned green. …
NOVEMBER 11, 2020 – My dear mother-in-law, Cleo Boger, would’ve turned 100 today. She died six weeks after she’d voted for the first woman to win the popular vote for president. Imagine that—Cleo, a life-long Republican, voting for a Democrat instead of . . . a red wrecking ball! And here we are four years …