Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MARCH 4, 2026 – Yesterday in a regular chat with a close college friend, we talked politics—as usual. After venting our spleens over the latest outrage—war against Iran—my good friend asked me, “Where do you think America will be a year from now? What’s your prediction?” After answering his question, I asked him, in turn, …
MARCH 3, 2026 – Yesterday my iPhone went on the fritz for the second time in four days. All outgoing calls were a “fail,” and all incoming calls went straight to voicemail. On the first “fail,” I searched for online solutions and found one that worked: “Turn on airplane mode [sic] for 30 seconds, then …
MARCH 2, 2026 – Today I experienced a further lesson in the difficulty of reconciling my circumstances with our country’s ugly past. In this particular instance, I have in mind the treatment of Indigenous populations by the European settlers, colonizers, fortune-seekers, and religious zealots who preceded us, not to mention by us, as well, with …
MARCH 1, 2026 – By all appearances, we’re well into the post-democracy phase of American history. On the surface, this can be quite discomforting, especially for us who’ve been convinced that the sky has been falling since January 20 of last year. But from a broader perspective, the current crisis, if you will, is not …
FEBRUARY 28, 2026 – When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss. It featured an imaginary circus inside the imagination of a kid named Morris McGurk. Morris envisioned a Big Top Circus in place of a vacant lot within the confines of a tall, …
FEBRUARY 27, 2026 – (Cont.) At the Brushmill I’d been torn between the chicken pot pie and the red lentil soup to go with my half of the misticanza salad that Byron and I had ordered together. Ultimately, I’d gone with the soup, thinking it was the more healthful choice, but then again, as everyone …
FEBRUARY 26, 2026 – Yesterday was another day that saw the yo-yo crawl upandupandup and up and up and up and up and . . . then . . . back . . . down and down and down and downanddownagain. On the upswing—into the early afternoon—I felt as though my cold symptoms were officially …
FEBRUARY 25, 2026 – By the time I’d assembled myself for breakfast yesterday morning, I was feeling significantly better. Maybe not quite airworthy, but with two days to go before our postponed departure from southern New England, I was optimistic. In the afternoon, I actually got outside and did some light shoveling to help “widen …
FEBRUARY 22, 2026 – (Cont.) Naturally, Dio likes us to read I’m a Garbage Truck out loud to him. But here’s the rub and the DEI feature, which, if you’re a Republican and even if you’re a Democrat, you might well think I’m taking DEI way, way beyond any reasonable dimension. But note in advance …
FEBRUARY 21, 2026 – A hallmark of the Trump Era is the easy detection of truth in opposites. If Trump hates something such as wind power, for example, then I know I wind turbines are absolutely a good thing, no questions asked. If Trump’s Treasury Secretary Bessent tries to rationalize tariffs as a blunt instrument …
FEBRUARY 20, 2026 – Our son Byron and daughter-in-law Mylène have laid down some immutable rules in their household. One is that their kids—a toddler and a newborn—will have no unsupervised “screen time.” I think this is probably a good rule. Both kids have a hint of pink-eye and must have eyedrops administered twice daily. …
FEBRUARY 18, 2026 – As grandparents who are only semi-retired, what do they do while visiting their grandkids (and their parents) for 10 days on the young family’s home turf in Connecticut—especially when a heavy mist transforms the hills and vales into an interactive Chinese silk screen the grandparents would expect to find on display …
FEBRUARY 17, 2026 – On the main drag in Old Saybrook, 11 miles to the south, is an establishment called, Peek-A-Boo Play Café. The clever business concept is a large and varied play area designed for kids from 2 to 12, with adjacent tables, chairs, stools and counters for parents (and grandparents) to occupy while …
FEBRUARY 16, 2026 – Today the household—our hosts, their infant and toddler, and my wife and I—launched an expedition to Jordan’s and Ikea in New Haven in search of a “big boy bed” for the toddler. The floor models were killing me. For under fifty bucks at Home Depot, I could bring home real lumber, …
FEBRUARY 15, 2026 – My wife has a much more detailed memory of our sons’ childhood than I do, probably because she attended to far more of the details of parenting than I did. This is not to say I don’t have vivid memories of those years or that I didn’t enjoy parenting, however deficient …
FEBRUARY 14, 2026 – Yesterday evening, Beth, our son Byron and I engaged in an earnest discussion about people we know well and who in the realm of politics are no more likely to change their minds than we are about to change ours. Even in a formal debate setting with strict rules of engagement, …
FEBRUARY 13, 2026 – Today a wholly clear smooth on-time uneventful two-hour and seven-minute Delta flight took us from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Hartford . . . to visit our two-and-a-half year old grandson, his new baby sister . . . and their parents. The 90 minutes in MSP terminal were a reminder that perhaps I …
FEBRUARY 12, 2026 – This year is my “reporting year” for continuing legal education credits—a mandatory 45 hours’ worth for the three years ending June 30. Credits can be obtained from a variety of sources—Minnesota CLE, local law libraries local law school libraries, and a plethora of national sponsors. Aside from mandatory credits in the …
FEBRUARY 11, 2026 – I have yet to find any survey of history with a chapter entitled, “From [When] to [When] Nothing Much Happened.” Yet even by historical standards, what the country is now experiencing represents a crisis of exceptional proportions. In the wheelhouse of the ship of state is a man with a rudderless …
FEBRUARY 10, 2026 – Blogger’s note: Because the server was down for upgrades late yesterday, publication of this post was delayed. Nearly nine years ago, Don Lewis, a pillar of the local legal community and with whom I’d worked long and hard on a project, invited me to lunch at the Atlas near our office …
FEBRUARY 9, 2026 – If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve heard about the personnel crisis sweeping through the USAO (U.S. Attorney’s Office). This is big stuff: a flood of resignations, coupled with amateur-hour attempts to hire replacements—with amateur-hour results. The version of the crisis here in Minnesota began with the resignation of Joe Thompson and …
FEBRUARY 8, 2026 – Whenever I pick up Illiana from school on a sunny day, to get the conversation rolling, I remind her that “As I’ve mentioned before . . . between the winter solstice back in December and the summer solstice in June, the north end of the earth’s axis is leaning more and …
FEBRUARY 7, 2026 – Yesterday evening we opted for take-out from Dino’s Gyros, the local Greek fast-food joint. I ordered the grilled chicken plate with sides of falafel and tabouli salad. Among the “sauce” selections, I chose tzatziki—I’m sure I did—but when I got home and pulled everything out of the bag inside the bag …
FEBRUARY 6, 2026 – This morning I addressed one of the two certainties in life—the one that starts with “T”. One thing led to another, however, and soon I was off on numerous financial tangents. Two of these required busting through online security barriers. I’ve grown quite accustomed to these, but in the cases at …
FEBRUARY 5, 2026 – White House Border Czar Tom Homan—Gruppenführer Gregory Bovino’s replacement as overseer of “Operation Metro Surge”—announced yesterday a 700-agent drawdown from the purported 3,000 ICE agents and Border Patrol agents on the loose in Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area. Ask people on the ground here, however, and no one …