Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
OCTOBER 25, 2026 – I must confess to my readership that occasionally I struggle to post my daily blog entry by my self-imposed deadline: midnight, UTC-6 (“Coordinated Universal Time”[1])(or UTC-5, during Daylight Savings Time). Yesterday’s effort was an example. Following a day of hard labor building mini-cages around a dozen more hemlock trees up at …
OCTOBER 24, 2026 – In every election cycle since the first one in which I participated (1972), candidates and their managers have declared that “this is the most important election in our lifetime.” I was always skeptical of the claim. In the first place, we haven’t yet lived our entire lifetime, so how would we …
OCTOBER 23, 2026 – After 10:00 this morning, I spent all day in the tree garden working on my “patented” system for protecting the hemlock trees against winter-browsing deer. Much of the work was tedious, with moments of extreme tension, such as when I tried to catch a falling oak leaf. When it dropped to …
OCTOBER 22, 2026 -This morning I took a few minutes to read more about what’s happening in France—and why. But here’s the rub: conditions that set off the recent violent demonstrations there exist in Belgium and Italy, as well. In the throes of an election cycle wherein “affordability” is a central campaign issue, America too …
OCTOBER 21, 2026 – Today after ferrying our granddaughter to school, I dispensed with some legal work, then shoved off for the northwoods. The balmy weather and gorgeous fall scenery along my route were in marked contrast to the political and economic discussions that filled public radio programming inside my car. After listening for over …
OCTOBER 20, 2026 – This afternoon when I arrived at the car dealership to spring my vehicle from the service infirmary, I encountered another customer who happened to be a young Somali woman. “Are you of Somali origins?” I asked. “Yes,” she said, cautiously. “I want you to know that despite all the negative campaign …
OCTOBER 19, 2026 – Before my initial sojourn in Poland, I was cognizant of Polish antipathy toward Germany as a result of the Nazi Blitzkrieg and brutal occupation during WW II, but not until my intense travels there in late summer/early fall of 1981 did I learn of the Poles’ visceral hatred of the Russians. …
OCTOBER 18, 2026 – If you think the election results next month will solve all our difficulties, look no further than France. Our deepest problems aren’t unique to the United States, and they won’t be “solved” simply by throwing out the current batch of rascals and replacing them with a different batch of rascals. What …
OCTOBER 17, 2026 – Today we joined a few hundred other demonstrators at one of the “go-to” sites of anti-Trump protests around the Twin Cities. Our previous time at this site was in the dead of last winter, when we had to do the penguin-walk over ice covered sidewalks from our car to the protest, …
OCTOBER 16, 2026 – Admittedly, I’ve become a sailing vlogger junkie. I got hooked by the cheerful daily reports by Drew Smith, a Canadian sailor who documented his passage last year from New Zealand to Victoria, British Columbia. What impressed me were not only the vast distances crossed by the vlogger sailing his 1974 34-foot …
OCTOBER 15, 2026 – By now even the most ostrich-like Americans are familiar with the name Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman targeted by the Crime Family operation conducted through the Department of Injustice. This fishing expedition against her, launched just three weeks before the mid-terms, is such a blatant act of political intimidation, it should …
OCTOBER 14, 2026 – Of the American political system, one sordid feature that no longer commands any serious discourse or debate, let alone change, is campaign finance. All we read and hear is that each election cycle brings bigger floods of cash, much of it from the “mega-donor class.” This time around, the high-water mark …
OCTOBER 13, 2026 – This morning my wife and I watched the first press briefing of the new White House Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia. Our reaction was a mix of disbelief and laughter, which quickly morphed into disgust. Pray tell that the American electorate is smart enough—finally—to see just how far we’ve fallen and what …
OCTOBER 12, 2026 – When our sons were young, their birthdays and arrival days were a very big deal. Weeks before each of these important dates, my wife was on the hunt for appropriate gifts—make that plural—along with cards, treats and balloons. The set-up, spread across the kitchen counter, was complete before she retired the …
OCTOBER 11, 2026 – You must humor me—or bear with me—as I write yet again about my continuing project combatting browsing deer in the tree garden, so called, on the shores of Grindstone Lake in northwest Wisconsin. Autumn is the season to worry about such things, but in the grand scheme, of the earth, deer …
OCTOBER 10, 2026 – In our neck of the woods on the shores of Grindstone Lake, fall colors are at their peak. At a little past eight a.m., the sun already shines at a lofty angle, lighting thousands of red, orange and yellow flames among earthbound arbors. The breeze is up as sunrays warm the …
OCTOBER 9, 2026 – Recently, after having read True Grit by Charles Portis, I watched the Coen brothers’ award-winning 2003 remake of the movie. Near the outset of the story, the inhabitants of Fort Smith, Arkansas gather to witness the hanging of three convicted murderers. All we know about them is what each imparts with …
OCTOBER 8, 2026 – I’ve finally reached the point of exposure to AI—or rather, to all the chatter and nail-biting about it—where I no longer first see “Al,” as in short for “Alan,” when I encounter “A(.)I(.),” meaning “artificial intelligence.” But in understanding the implications of a world run by the latter, I’m no closer …
OCTOBER 7, 2026 – Today’s WSJ carried an interesting article about the comeback of the bunt thanks to “thinking outside the (batter’s) box” by the Tampa Bay Rays. When I was a kid, the bunt was right up there with the sacrifice fly: if everything went according to plan, the batter was out but the …
OCTOBER 6, 2026 – Call me naïve, oblivious to all the dangers stalking the earth as I glide along unrealistically in my own little world. But it’s true: Rather than rant and rave about the state of affairs in the larger world, I’d rather revel in the beauty of my small world as I found …
OCTOBER 5, 2026 – Over the years, a salient bonus of my daily walks to, in and from nearby “Little Switzerland” is my conversations with people along the way. Yesterday’s encounter is a classic example. It occurred on the (par 5) 8th tee, which sits on a high plateau looking due east down the fairway …
OCTOBER 4, 2026 – Yesterday’s slow-poke mail delivery included two identical letters, one addressed to my wife and one to me, from our advantage plan health care insurance provider. The unwelcome news, viewed in stereo, was that our current advantage plans, which have worked just fine for years, will not be available for renewal on …
OCTOBER 3, 2026 – Back in the day, my oldest sister Kristina, who was well on her way to reading every book in print, gave me her copy of The Last Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. She raved about it, and knowing of my nautical exploits on Grindstone Lake, she told me I had to …
OCTOBER 2, 2026 – After dispensing with yesterday’s “reverse engineering” mission, an altogether enjoyable undertaking, today I turned to another, long-anticipated project: construction and installation of protective cages for the larger set of hemlock trees among the 30 I’ve planted over the past four years. By way of background, I’ve always been partial to hemlocks …
OCTOBER 1, 2026 – After managing client needs this morning and again for a stint this afternoon, my main focus today was the annual occasion of “reverse engineering” at the Red Cabin; that is, fall dock removal. Weather conditions were ideal for the project, and far from being a chore, the effort brought me tremendous …