Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 26, 2023 – Today in these parts, the temperature was mild—20s Fahrenheit—with sunshine. By this weekend, the daytime highs will be in the “lower single digits,” euphemistic lingo used by local TV meteorologists to describe “cold.” Overnight lows will fall below zero. There’s no euphemism for “bitterly cold.” Ahead of the “cold” and “bitterly …
JANUARY 25, 2023 – I’m a full week into eating on my own while Beth is eating in style—judging by the establishments listed on our Visa account (e.g. Bubbles by the Beach; Johnny Mananas). Awhile back, after decades of preparing daily dinner and leaving the dishes to me, Beth hinted unmistakably that I should learn …
JANUARY 24, 2023 – Yesterday I experienced sticker shock. I wasn’t reacting to the average U.S. house sale price in 2022 ($507,800) or the price of a 2023 Beamer – 520i ($76,995) or . . . room, board and tuition at Harvey Mudd College, the most expensive private college in America ($77,449). No, I was …
JANUARY 23, 2023 – I have a confession to make. For many years I contributed nothing to my alma mater’s alumni fund. I’d soured on the whole idea in the course of paying major bucks through both nostrils for our younger son’s college education. How could increases in the all-in cost consistently far outstrip the …
JANUARY 22, 2023 – In June my wife and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary. I’ve learned many important lessons over the course of this partnership. One is to put your dishes in the dishwasher. Second is to put them in the dishwasher right away. Another lesson is, if you arrive at the cabin and …
JANUARY 21, 2021 – Recently, a college friend with academic credentials deeper than the seven layers of Troy uncovered a volunteer opportunity with the National Archives Citizen Archivist Project. The task involves transcribing old documents. As a PhD anthropological archeologist, he’s eminently qualified. In his email about it he wrote, “Transcribing some of these records …
JANUARY 20, 2023 – When I was a kid, I couldn’t bear being inside on a nice day, especially in the summer. That was half the reason I hated the violin. Whether Mother was nagging me to practice or Dad was dragging me to a Saturday lesson, I couldn’t stand being indoors when I could be …
JANUARY 19, 2023 – In these parts, snow—manna to a skier—is still falling from heaven. My wife, who isn’t a skier, would say it’s falling from hell, a thermically and directionally paradoxical perspective. I recently gained a better understanding of her disdain after I backed my car into a snowbank up at the lake and …
JANUARY 18, 2023 – This morning I took a quick look at the latest “news”: arraignment of a Massachusetts man indicted on charger of killing his wife and moving the body; another shoot-’em-up in [fill in one (or several) of the 50 states]; compulsive liar accused of more lies and given Congressional committee assignments; another …
JANUARY 17, 2023 – Today I had my monthly follow-up appointment with Dr. Kolla, followed by an encounter with the “infusion center,” where nurse Patty administered two butt shots plus a rabies injection. In more professional lingo, the butt shots were doses of csxzysesisterkappalambdaiotazonifer and xylicriminelamndanumuomicronpiclomyaquavazine, otherwise known as mono-clonal antibodies packaged under the brand …
JANUARY 16, 2023 – Of all our national shortcomings, the legacy of our Original Sin remains the most persistent contradiction of our basic stated operating principles; a contradiction with real, hard, extensive, corrosive consequences for all of us. The sine qua non of redemption is acknowledgment, yet many Americans still actively resist hearing, reading or …
JANUARY 15, 2023 – Today the weather gods smiled, and gave a taste of spring-skiing. As I skated down the ski track, up and down dale, I noticed a number of weekenders on the course—friends on a lark; parents with young kids; older folks, gliding along slowly but surely. Citizen racers were few. Doubtless they …
JANUARY 14, 2023 – Memory: I’m fascinated by the details it holds amidst a vast ocean of time, images, encounters and impressions. Take for example, the exact words of Mr. Cavanaugh in social studies class my freshman year of high school: “If you analyze people, you lose them.” More details: He wore a tweed jacket …
JANUARY 13, 2023 – My dad was such a devout moderate he was paradoxically extreme. His inspiration might’ve been James Hilton’s classic, Lost Horizons, an old copy of which could be found on the shelves of my parents’ den. As the Buddhist monk in the story explained, “At the monastery we’re extreme in our moderation.” …
JANUARY 12, 2023 – Today a reader-friend asked me: Are you accident prone? Are you a risk taker? Are you foolish? These questions were prompted by yesterday’s post about the bite of a bungee cord. I answered “no” to the first two. To the third I responded that another reader often calls me after a …
JANUARY 11, 2023 – From space the earth is a peaceful orb, pleasantly blue and green with shades of tan and brown, wrapped in white, whimsical swirls. But down at ground level, earth is home to chaos, dangers, and disruptions. Take, for example, winter in Minnesota. More specifically, damn winter ice dams in Minnesota. Ice …
JANUARY 10, 2023 – The more I “mature,” the wider my education gap grows and the deeper a realization sinks in: there’s little I can do to mitigate the trend. It’s in our nature—by evolutionary necessity and practical convenience—to assume we know everything about one thing or rather, about a lot of things. Similar to …
JANUARY 9, 2023 – Last night I experienced my usual kaleidoscope of dreams. In one segment, I was leading my wife on a chase through the back, cluttered offices of a bank. Our objective was to cash a check. She wore an N95 mask, but I’d forgotten mine, so I held my breath as we …
JANUARY 8, 2023 – Movies, filled with dramatic distortions, embellishments and exaggerations, are often an unreliable source of historical information. Just as often, however, despite the lack of factual reliability, a film will stir the viewer’s curiosity and prompt further investigation of the historical record. That was the case when I stumbled across the 2014 …
JANUARY 7, 2023 – Followers of this blog know that in the course of my stem cell transplant procedure back in late August, Drs. Killjoy (both of them) told me, “No more downhill skiing for you. Cross-country, fine; downhill, no.” Their perfectly sound reasoning was that the multiple myeloma had turned my skeleton into “Swiss …
JANUARY 6, 2023 – (Cont.) Out of the wrecker cab dropped a driver from central casting—a burly, bearded fellow, wearing blue transition-glasses, a baseball cap, heavy-duty gloves and a green safety vest. His name was “Jim.” and he proved to be as much a witty conversationalist as he was an engineer on the fly. He’d …
JANUARY 5, 2023 – (Cont.) But we still had the stuck vehicles to worry about. John had plenty of devices and equipment for pulling his tractor out of the snow, but I couldn’t see how my car could be rescued much before spring. I was prepared to abandon it until then. In that case, however, …
JANUARY 4, 2023 – Mylène got her wish: being snowed in at the cabin as the world around us turned into a winter wonderland. While for several days we’d enjoyed the gorgeous winter scenery outside, and inside, played cards and Scrabble and kept the wood-burning stove loaded with oak, the window was closing on our …
JANUARY 3, 2023 – When it came to games at our family cabin, my two older sisters led the way, as they did in most endeavors. From an early age, I lost to my smarter elders at War, Go to the Dump, regular checkers, and Chinese checkers—the games of choice, because they were the only …
JANUARY 2, 2023 – The pre-Christmas weather that besieged the country, smashed indiscriminately through our woods. From a comfortable distance we worried about power, plumbing and heating at the Red Cabin. Trees and wildlife, meanwhile, took a beating. The first visible casualties were four 30-year-old Norways that we’d planted on conservancy land near the entrance …