Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
NOVEMBER 13, 2022 – Yesterday, heading out on my walk, I encountered our neighbors Kate and Dave across the alley. We hadn’t chatted in a while, so I stopped to talk. They’re smart, bright, articulate, well-informed and invariably have something worthwhile to hear. Among yesterday’s takes-away was a film recommendation: Don’t Look Up, on Netflix. …
NOVEMBER 12, 2022 – No one likes to sit down with coffee on a Saturday morning to read The Times . . . and hear one’s spouse call from the basement, “WE HAVE A PROBLEM DOWN HERE!” You can’t hide. You have to forget The Time and face the music. Taking hard steps to signal …
NOVEMBER 11, 2022 – If we look back on this day 104 years ago—originally Armistice Day; “Veterans Day” after June 1, 1954—the great rising and falling powers of Europe, drained of blood and purpose, called a halt to the mutual mayhem and destruction that had decimated an entire generation. Along the way, Russia was turned …
NOVEMBER 10, 2022 – (Cont.) According to a story my dad later told, however, George Campbell was as thrifty as my Swedish grandmother was frugal. One fall day when the Campbells were closing up their cabin for the season, George hiked over through the woods to offer my grandmother a leftover, half-stick of butter wrapped …
NOVEMBER 9, 2022 – The directive was clear. Soon after Beth had left this morning in search of more inventory for her online-used book sales, she sent me a text: “Could you please try and get your car in the garage today.” Implicit was the sub-directive (or was it the main directive?): clear out all …
NOVEMBER 8, 2022 – Today was a blustery fall day at the Red Cabin. A strong blow out of the southeast whipped the lake into a frenzy and made trees sway without relief. Until João and Joana called from Lisbon late in the morning, I could’ve forgotten it was Election Day (I’d voted early)—our Portuguese …
NOVEMBER 7, 2022 – This evening I ventured out to see the full moon emerge from its wanderings in the exotic East. Here at the Red Cabin, which faces the lake due south, deep woods obstruct the sky east and north. To catch the moonrise, I’d have to follow a woodland trail to a promontory …
NOVEMBER 6, 2022 – When the weather is mild, November is a splendid month in the Northwoods. Today the sun brightened the landscape and the wind—gusting past 20 mph—had free rein. Mindful that falling debris could have free rein, as well, I kept eyes and ears peeled for arboreal projectiles. I didn’t go quite as …
NOVEMBER 5, 2022 – Blogger’s note: Given the subject matter of this (lengthy) post, I found it difficult to split it into installments. I think you’ll understand why, assuming you read the post in its entirety. I hadn’t touched my fiddle in a week, and before that, not in a month; maybe that’s why …
NOVEMBER 4, 2022 – I’m “a people person,” to be sure, but I also thrive in periodic seclusion from my fellow humans—as long as I’m surrounded by natural beauty, as I am here at the Red Cabin. When the weather and legal work are accommodating, I spend the majority of daylight hours outside, always observing …
NOVEMBER 3, 2022 – This morning at daybreak while I was on my pre-breakfast, woodland walk, my good friend Linda Hoeschler called. It’d been a while since we’d talked. By way of my 10/10-12/2022 posts, however, she was aware of my encounter with “the stick.” She admonished me to be careful while up here in …
NOVEMBER 2, 2022 – Today while bud-capping white pine trees in the “tree garden,” I spotted a four-year old seedling nestled up against an old, pin oak tree. The red leaves of a raspberry plant, backlit by Apollo’s chariot, dangled over the pine. A nice picture, I thought. Just as I reached for my iPhone, …
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 – Yesterday the Supremes heard oral arguments in two affirmative action cases. The high court will likely stick a pitchfork in the long-standing law of the land—that race diversity goals may justify consideration of race in admissions to higher education. This morning I thought about these cases as I reviewed an essay …
OCTOBER 31, 2022 – When I heard about the horrible incident in Seoul last Saturday, it stirred a terrifying memory. Exactly 22 years ago, our family was in Seoul on a tour with a half dozen other families with adopted, Korean-born kids. It was the trip of a lifetime, and we saw many wonderful sights, …
OCTOBER 30, 2022 – My wife and I have long been associated with World Press Institute (“WPI”), a local non-profit with a global reach. Each year WPI invites 10 foreign journalists to participate in an eight-week fellowship program. The fellows spend two weeks in Minnesota, then embark on a tour of U.S. media centers before …
OCTOBER 29, 2022 – Today I spent all day surrounded by nature in all its glory. The experience was singularly restorative. As I entered the great outdoors, just before dawn, a bald eagle glided by along our shoreline—omen of a good day. The dawn seemed to continue exactly where dusk had left off yesterday: a …
OCTOBER 28, 2022 – (Cont.) “Honest to God,” Eagleton said, “I spent—everyone in Congress spent—more time trying to raise money than we spent actually doing the jobs to which we’d been elected. Then early one morning I was shaving, looking at myself in the mirror. I stopped shaving and stared at my face. And I …
OCTOBER 27, 2022 – Back in politically ancient times, campaign finance reform was an issue. It even rose to sufficient prominence to invite serious political debate, followed by meaningful legislation, most notably BCRA (“Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002”) popularly known as the “Feingold – McCain Act”). In olden times, as in any era of …
OCTOBER 26, 2022 – No person on earth is watching November 8 more closely than a man from afar. He’s a heartless, soulless, evil, violent, megalomaniac, hellbent on reducing the largest nation in Europe to a pile of rubble and a land scorched with human misery. By moral and ethical standards of civilized society, his …
OCTOBER 25, 2022 -As we enter the home stretch before the mid-term elections, I shake my head and mutter—now write—“Seriously?” If sobering matters weren’t in play, I’d think that C students are running for student council, appealing for the votes of D and F students. The A and B students, meanwhile, race from class to …
OCTOBER 24, 2022 – (Cont.) With that I buttoned my suit coat, zipped up my laptop case, and walked out, kicking the door so hard my foot would surely hurt for a week. It’s take me longer, I feared, to get over the scuff mark on my shoe. What happened next I couldn’t have anticipated—except, …
OCTOBER 23, 2022 – (Cont.) “So what’s the offer they can’t refuse?” asked the Don. “Easy peasy. Goes like this: “FIRST: No deal except a universal deal—U.S. DOJ, New York AG, Georgia AG; all claims now existing or hereafter conjured up are covered by the deal; “SECOND: You plead guilty to as many felony counts …
OCTOBER 22, 2022 – (Cont.) “Okay. What are your recommendations?” The mad dog Don now looked scared, if the orange sweat dripping over the edge of his collar was an accurate indicator. “Simple,” I said. “You keep quiet until I get your neck out of the noose.” “But my people wanted to hang Mike Pence …
OCTOBER 21, 2022 – (Cont.) I also recalled our family’s “rescue dog”—so flawed, crazy, untrainable and destructive, we had to rescue our neighborhood by returning the dog to the rescue center. Perhaps, I thought, in the case of the mad dog now seated in front of me, I could rescue the nation by . . …
OCTOBER 20, 2022 – (Cont.) “Not to denigrate your legal teams,” I said, “but ever since Michael Cohen, you’ve been working with the wrong crew. They’re third- and fourth-stringers. Losers, especially Powell and Giuliani. To be brutally honest, sir, they all did you a massive disservice—worst lawyers ever. Weak. Every single one of them. I’m …