Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 11, 2020 – It started with a paper cut. Yesterday at my office, I picked up the phone and sliced my fingertip on a sheet of paper in an untidy stack next to the phone. The tiny cut drew blood. Later, every time I pulled my mitten on or off, my finger cried, “Ouch!” …
JANUARY 10, 2020 – Yesterday as I approached my bus stop, I hear a loud, intermittent noise. It sounded like some kind of motor on the fritz. Upon reaching the bus stop, I discovered the source of this unearthly sound: a human being on the fritz. People avoided the guy as he sat inside the …
JANUARY 9, 2020 – Yesterday evening I accompanied our four-year-old granddaughter to her first downhill ski lesson. The five-week program is sponsored by the St. Paul Parks and Rec at “Geneva” (the clubhouse/ski lodge) of “Little Switzerland.” In a few weeks, the little skiers will be schussing (and turning, I hope) down “St. Mortiz,” the …
JANUARY 8, 2020 – This month’s selection for my book club is Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. It follows the extraordinary geographic and psychological journey of “Deogratias,” a native of Burundi in Central East Africa, who survives horrors and overcomes setbacks that would have crushed any normal person. His story is replete with …
JANUARY 7, 2020 – We have good friends who are skiing beside the Matterhorn outside Zermatt, Switzerland. I’m envious, but I can’t begrudge good taste combined with good fortune. Sunday, I thought about our friends as I hiked to my own version of Switzerland and the Matterhorn. It was a rough go. Our alley was …
JANUARY 6, 2020 – You might think Trump’s a disaster for the country, perhaps the world. But turn to the “duke-out” among the surviving field of Democratic candidates for president, and you see how off track we really are. I’m not talking about the qualifications of one candidate over another. Each Democratic contender has at …
JANUARY 5, 2020 – We aren’t the only ones to have mucked up the Middle East. First prize goes to Britain, but Russia, the Ottomans, and the French also starring roles in the historical muck-up. Yet don’t forget the locals themselves, whose tribal and internecine religious rivalries have created ample havoc apart from the influence …
JANUARY 4, 2020 – If you haven’t seen images of Australia’s Armageddon, you drank too much holiday grog. Extreme drought and record high temperatures turned the “fire season” into cataclysmic devastation. Decades ago I spent a month in the region now in flames. It is—or was—packed with eucalyptus trees, vulnerable to fire given the high …
JANUARY 3, 2020 – For Christmas my wife gave me a soup cookbook. Yesterday, I tried my luck at “Lentil Soup with Lemon.” The signature benefit of my initial soup project was heightened appreciation for people (starting with my wife) who can prepare a whole meal. Because the recipe involved vegetables, it involved chopping, and …
JANUARY 2, 2020 – Years ago my spouse gave me a nice sweatshirt with “BOWDOIN” printed on the front. To prevent it from looking like many of my other sweatshirts, which my wife threatens to toss, I rarely wear my college sweatshirt. On Tuesday, however, I had to go to my office briefly, then over …
JANUARY 1, 2020 – Happy New Year! May the Year of Perfect Vision bring all of us good cheer, excellent health, rewarding encounters, happy relationships and abundant prosperity! Now to get down to the hard work of bringing those objectives to fruition. For my own little world I’ve devised a list of New Year’s Resolutions …
DECEMBER 31, 2019 – This last day of 2019 prompts reflection about the past 12 months. In cosmic terms, this occasion is fairly hum-drum. Strike “fairly.” From a human perspective, it’s arbitrary. The demarcation between “old year” and “new year” could be established at any time in the earth’s revolution around its star. It’s a …
DECEMBER 30, 2019 – No sooner had the full image taken shape, when disaster struck. Down I went, as if shoved violently into the snow and . . . How on such a cold day, after such a cold week, with everything frozen hard, could I be in . . . liquid water? This wasn’t …
DECEMBER 29, 2019 – Years ago an ice fisherman reportedly went through the ice on White Bear Lake, just north of St. Paul. What was remarkable about the story was: (1) It occurred after a two solid weeks of subzero temperatures; and (2) The guy had just augured a fishing hole through a foot and …
DECEMBER 28, 2019 – I must confess: I’m a skimmer. With an exception now and again (ask me how the Torrens Assurance Fund works under Minnesota law—a few years ago I had to learn it), I’m very much a generalist. Whenever I decide to “go deep” on one subject or another, I soon discover I’ll …
DECEMBER 27, 2019 – Several years ago I wrote a novel “based on a true story,” entitled Björn (featured in the photo above). Based on a screenplay I’d written previously, it’s about love, loss, rift and reconciliation. Yesterday, as I transferred 40 gigs of files from one cloud-based server to another, a folder labeled, “Björn …
December 26, 2019 – ‘Twas a whirlwind—planning, scheduling, shopping, decorating, wrapping, unwrapping, cooking, baking, eating, driving, drinking, visiting, entertaining, game-playing. The Big Holiday has passed, and people have scattered. With the memories fresh, I reflect on certain encounters during the festivities. I feel myself shedding the chains of ignorance and the blinders of biases. The …
DECEMBER 25, 2019 – (excerpted from Inheritance – A Memoir) “Hey! You’re supposed to be asleep!” he said in an excited, half-whisper. “We [he always used the royal “we”] spent all day at Santa’s workshop. He asked about you and your sisters, and we said, ‘The sisters are all good little girls—but Eric—well, he’s a …
DECEMBER 24, 2019 – We knew him as Santa Claus, and indeed he was. As reliable as the calendar, Uncle Bruce would arrive a week before the Big Day. He flew on a night flight from Newark to the old terminal in Minneapolis, where Mother and Dad would pick him up. His arrival was past …
DECEMBER 23, 2019 – In the lead-up to my fourth Christmas, our dad read every word of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to our entire family. During each session, which seemed like an eternity, Mother, my sisters, and I sat perfectly still while Dad read the classic tale. Later, he bought an LP version of …
DECEMBER 22, 2019 – On Thursday our younger and his wife flew to Minnesota to help us celebrate Christmas. In anticipation of their arrival, my wife worked her usual home decoration miracles, inside and out. The centerpiece is a beautifully trimmed Tannenbaum. I was quite content to defer to her sensibilities and wallow in the …
DECEMBER 20, 2019 – What’s as predictable as Christmas is the alacrity with which it arrives. Now. When I was a kid, the slow passage of time allowed me to savor the approach of the biggest holiday in American culture. When I was in second grade, our teacher, Mrs. Lundring, who seemed way past retirement …
DECEMBER 19, 2019 – Earlier this week I had a spirited conversation with each of four lawyers, including a current sitting district court judge and a retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice. One exchange was over an impromptu lunch; the others were in downtown Minneapolis skyways. I’ve known each of these people for years, having practiced …
DECEMBER 18, 2019 – A few years ago I was asked to represent a faction of a local mosque, whose members were Somali immigrants. They claimed they’d been ousted from the board and other positions by a competing faction that had resorted to illegal methods, aided by the local police. After extensive interviews, thorough examination …
DECEMBER 17, 2019 – On Sunday evening I watched David Lean’s Dr. Zhivago. I’ve lost track, but it might have been the 12th time I’ve enjoyed the 1965 epic film directed by David Lean. It went on to become one of the biggest box office hits ever. For those who read my “thumbs up” review …