Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 11, 2023 – On this part of the planet, in many years we often skip spring and go directly from winter to summer. That seems to be the case this year. Just a week ago last Saturday, we woke up to another seven inches of snow on what was already a record amount of …
APRIL 10, 2023 – Much of the world has long emerged from pandemic isolation—unmasked and unconcerned. For reasons well known to most of my readers, I’ve lived the past 15 months as “Bubble Boy.” Before today, I’d ventured inside retail establishments only five times. Today was the sixth—partly in celebration of the recent completion of …
APRIL 9, 2023 – Halfway up each of my ascents of “St. Moritz” this morning, I noticed a large twig embedded in the melting snow. With a flat irregularity at one end, the twig looked like a spike—the kind, I thought, that the Romans used to crucify Jesus and the two robbers—and doubtless countless other …
APRIL 8, 2023 – The snow was already soft by the time I got underway with one load of gear for the slog to the car parked a mile away. From there, the paved roads were mostly clear, but already, the twisting, undulating back roads were so checkered with potholes, I drove as if I …
APRIL 7, 2023 – I threw the plastic sled in at the last minute, thinking it might come in handy. Good thinking. On impulse I’d decided to take a quick overnight trip up here to ski sections of the Birkebeiner Trail tomorrow morning for Day No. 124 of a record season. The forecast calls for …
APRIL 6, 2023 – (Cont.) After a late lunch, Illiana repaired to her “artist’s corner” of our house, where her old-fashioned school desk is surrounded by drawing materials, well organized by her grandmother. She designed a thank-you card out of writing and construction paper, which Beth helped glue together. The artwork on the cover and …
APRIL 5, 2023 – (Cont.) As the directors of food and hunt prize procurements helped Fred pack up the surpluses, the director of communications, pulled me aside. I’d noticed her activity in the thick of the extravaganza but hadn’t had a chance to greet her. “Hi, Eric,” she said. “You might not remember me, but …
APRIL 4, 2023 – (Cont.) Since the big Easter Egg Hunt was scheduled for late Saturday morning, Illiana stayed overnight with us Friday, though she and her parents live only six miles away. As fortune would have it, however, a major March-end lion roared across our region Friday evening, leaving in its angry wake a …
APRIL 3, 2023 – (Cont.) Just inside the door I removed my shoes. After taking my jacket, Fred led me from the entryway, through the nicely appointed living room and into the dining room. Colorful Easter egg decorations hung from the broad arched entryway into the dining area. The large dining room table was so …
APRIL 2, 2023 – (Cont.) I’d always been curious how in the world or anywhere else you could drive a tank faster than one mile an hour without crashing into everything in sight—or rather not in sight, because absent high-tech cameras, how would you see more than 1% of your surroundings through the narrow viewing …
APRIL 1, 2023 – My grandpa Nilsson, a violinist, launched my three sisters on their own careers as violinists. He and they were in perfect synch: he was a serious teacher, and they were serious students. In my case, he practically stood on his head trying first to get me to practice, and when that …
MARCH 31, 2023 – Today, Lindsey Graham called the indictment of Duly Defeated “the most irresponsible act by a prosecutor in the history of the country.” Currently, 9,832 people serve as prosecutors in the United States, which has been formally constituted for 234 years. Against the backdrop of those numbers, “most irresponsible . . . …
MARCH 30, 2023 – One of my big beefs with the free market is that pricing fails to take all costs into account; costs such as environmental cleanup expenses and health care costs ensuing from the East Palestine train derailment; the untold costs of EMS units and law enforcement swat teams called into action every …
MARCH 29, 2023 – Those of us who are repulsed by the Duly Defeated are quick to draw a direct connection between FoxProp’s viewership and Defeated’s political success within the Republican Party. I know (and respect) a number of people who are dedicated members of that viewership. I’m also well acquainted with their blanket rejection …
MARCH 28, 2023 – Today I had a medical encounter that bolstered my faith in the future. The occasion was a six-month check-up with Dr. Arndt, my pulmonologist, which went swimmingly (my transplant workup a year ago had revealed a lingering lung issue arising from a cat allergy, channeling me to the pulmonology section for …
MARCH 27, 2023 – In the aftermath of 9/11, my spouse remarked that if terrorists really wanted to hit us hard, they’d hit us where we live—everyday places in random communities across the country: our neighborhoods, shopping malls, churches, offices, amusement parks and . . . that’s right, schools. Here we are, more than a …
MARCH 26, 2023 -Yesterday’s post expressed anxiety if not pessimism about the nation’s current heading. Today a burst of spring weather, including uninterrupted sunshine accompanied by snowmelt off the back roof, helped temper yesterday’s worry. But what better assuaged my concern was another 50 pages (thus far today) of Inferno by Max Hastings (see 3/16, …
MARCH 25, 2023 – If you turn check the news these days—or any days—you’ll either investigate Canadian citizenship or follow my example and take matters into your own hands, as in . . . I’m going to be arrested on Tuesday. There, I’ve put it out there. (You can too.) The phone lines and website …
MARCH 24, 2023 – Today in these parts, the spring melt was final on, full force. The mercury soared well into the 40sF under a sky monopolized by the sun. As I skate-skied up and down the Bernese Oberland of “Little Switzerland”—my 109th day of the season—I reveled in ideal “spring skiing” conditions. These occur …
MARCH 23, 2023 – A few posts ago I mentioned Inferno, a brilliant survey of WW II by the British journalist and military historian, Max Hastings. I’m now several hundred pages deeper into the conflict and to borrow a phrase that George W. Bush deployed in hubris when we invaded Iraq 20 years ago this …
MARCH 22, 2023 – During my years working inside a large financial institution, we were subjected to a regular onslaught of new and improved terms that people slung around mostly to gain acceptance among other people doing likewise. When I encountered the latest lingo in management meetings I wanted to stand up and scream, “Can’t …
MARCH 21, 2023 – When the Duly Defeated came to Minneapolis for a rally in October 2018, the best parts of the show were the clever protest signs among the thousands of demonstrators in the street outside the rally. My favorite: “WHERE DO I START?” At around the same time, I encountered a well-educated, well-heeled …
MARCH 20, 2023 – Today I was ant on a hill. Nothing revelatory about that. Gazing up at the stars on a clear night or looking down at the earth on a clear day from 36,000 feet reminds me that each of us is . . . an ant, or more precisely, something far less …
MARCH 19, 2023 – If you’re bored and looking for an improbable tale beyond the bounds of Marvel Comics or any streaming service, read Wikipedia entries for “Wagner Group” and its self-announced founder, the cartoonish, ex-con, once aspiring competitive x-c skier (!!), former hot dog vendor-turned-oligarch, Evgeny Prigozhin. For background, see the bio of self-appointed …
MARCH 18, 2023 – I wouldn’t hurt a flea. Well, maybe a flea, and true confession: I’ve killed my share of mosquitoes. And swatted flies and flushed many a wood tick down the toilet. But murder a human being? I’d be incapable of that. . . . Or would I? The other night in my …