Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
AUGUST 5, 2022 – (Cont.) The afternoon that preceded one of those “pie and ice cream” evenings at Moore’s is when John and Jenny discovered a talent for throwing rocks at the street lights and busting the big, glass orbs. The fun continued until they’d wrecked damned near every street lamp on Rice Street. That …
AUGUST 4, 2022 – (Cont.) If the police had been summoned to Matheny’s, it wouldn’t have been Jenny’s first run-in with cops. When Jenny was four, Mother had enrolled her in Mrs. Ward’s tap-dance academy in an old mansion a block south of the post office in downtown Anoka. The main thing Jenny learned in …
AUGUST 3, 2022 – I have three sisters, two older, one younger. The older ones have always been at the head of the class—any class in which they’ve found themselves. When we were growing up, each was my gold standard for brains, talent, and deportment. As far as I knew and observed, they always toed …
AUGUST 2, 2022 – (Cont.) At the time, I knew nothing about homeowner’s insurance, but as I now reflect on the event, I understand why horse people who invite their friends along should have plenty of liability coverage. Unlike Mother, who was fond of horses and had some riding experience in her upbringing, Dad was …
AUGUST 1, 2022 – (Cont.) On the subject occasion, whoever was leading—it might’ve been one of the hired hands—had the bright idea that when we reached the last field before returning to the stables, we should canter across. At the mention of the bright idea, Buster and I were in the middle somewhere—our usual placement. …
JULY 31, 2022 – When I was a kid, my mother would take my sisters—or at least one or two of them—and me horseback riding. About 10 miles due east of town was the “Circle Pines” horse ranch, and it seemed that on a regular basis during the summer, Mother would load us into the …
JULY 30, 2022 – (Cont.) I learned another business lesson at Matheny’s on one hot summer day when I was in fifth grade. For a nickel I went for a one-stick Fudgsicle instead of buying a two-stick Popsicle, which you could split into two, one-stick Popsicles by using the metal splitter fastened to the wall …
JULY 29, 2022 – (Cont.) At the checkout counter, Beryl rang up the groceries, then opened a drawer where a bunch of bound receipt books were stored, each with a family name written across the top binding. I recognized “NILSSON,” and by the end of first grade, I could identify the names of most of …
JULY 28, 2022 – You know you’re hearing from a codger when the story’s about the “good ol’ days” and bygone institutions such as . . . Matheny’s Corner Store. Matheny’s, as everyone called it, was at the corner of Benton and Ferry—one street up from ours and two long blocks to the east. My …
JULY 27, 2022 – Blogger’s note: In Monday’s post, I mentioned a an old banking colleague of mine, Bill McRostie. He was such an unusual character, I thought he deserved a post dedicated solely to him. In retrospect, I wish I’d asked him more questions. I’m confident he would’ve provided more answers. Bill was tall, thin, …
JULY 26, 2022 – (Cont.) In the protracted process, I’d developed a good rapport with the lead investor and spokesman for the group (although I was a lawyer, I was working in my capacity as a banker; ethically, I could deal directly with the investor, while the bank’s outside attorney communicated with the borrower’s lawyer). …
JULY 25, 2022 – Last week an insurance agent in NJ informed me by email that a recent premium refund I’d received had been overpaid. The minimum earned premium hadn’t been taken into account, and the agent’s firm was on the hook for the overpayment. He asked that I call him. I phoned immediately. When …
JULY 24, 2022 – I’ve noticed that many people can’t bear silence for very long. Whether they’re driving, walking through the park, or sweeping out the garage, they’ve got to have sound or music filling their inner ears. It’s as if music, a phone conversation, a favorite podcast, or some other aural stimulus is the …
JULY 23, 2022 – Is “breaking news” making you crazy? Try consuming only “financial journalism.” First, if we were to follow only news reported by financial media—e.g. Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal—soon half the population would be snoring in la-la land. The calming effect on society would be transformative. Second, the remaining half …
JULY 22, 2022 – Last night I watched the Jan 6 Committee hearing, which lived up to its billing as a “barn-burner.” Outside the cult and the Kool-Aid exist two possible reactions to the proceedings. On the negative side, given the raw evidence of Trump’s depravity—and the fealty he still commands—a person can sink into …
JULY 21, 2022 – [Biden stands behind a lectern bearing the presidential seal; a forest fire blazes in the background] “Okay folks, here’s the deal. I don’t care if you call me old or call me slow. I don’t care if you call me Biden or call me Brandon. Like my dad used to tell …
JULY 20, 2022 – I’m finding that the James Webb telescope images of the edge of the universe have radically altered my view of life here on earth. Perhaps that changed perspective is the mission of all “space” exploration. If we earthlings, including the subspecies, homo americanus, get a lot of things “right” . . …
JULY 19, 2022 – Late yesterday morning I hiked to my make-believe scale model of “Europe’s Rooftop.” (Actually, it’s (still) a local, hilly, municipal golf course.) Switzerland was abandoned, which I figured was because of extreme heat. Rather than exercise good judgment, I pretended I was an alpinist. With ski poles I “scaled” the (60-foot-high) …
JULY 18, 2022 – Over the weekend, while sitting on our dock, I watched cumulus clouds billowing upward over the lake. Earlier, when our six-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter was doing likewise and seeing dragons and unicorns, she’d asked, “How are clouds made?” I explained that when the earth warms by day, the moist, heated air near the …
JULY 17, 2022 – Here in the Northwoods, life used to be far more primitive at our family’s summer cabin. There was no phone, and our grandmother cooked up a storm on a wood-burning stove. A hand-pump outside the cabin provided water for drinking, cooking, and washing. With a bar of soap, you bathed in …
JULY 16, 2022 – Every architect I’ve met is a class act, professionally and personally. What’s to explain this? Does the profession draw a certain personality type? Do the rigors of their education weed out the riffraff? Is it because architects are artists? I must pose these questions to “my friends in architecture.” I could …
JULY 15, 2022 – If you’re like me—semi-normal—you’ve beheld in awe, the recently released images captured by the James Webb telescope. Perhaps you’ve explored the science behind those pictures, but again, if you’re like me, you haven’t—beyond a cursory narrative. Inside my personal universe the images prompt a feeling of déjà vu. Is NASA deploying …
JULY 14, 2022 – As a college freshman, I took a “gov” class. Elsewhere it was known as “political science,” but for reasons unclear to me then and now, “poli-sci” was “gov” at the Maine alma mater of such luminaries as Franklin Pierce, who, in case you forgot, became POTUS, and Melville Fuller, who was …
JULY 13, 2022 – Blogger’s note: I trust that in exchange for the denouement, the dramatic close, the fork in the experimental story, the reader will overlook my disregard for my self-imposed, per-post word limit. Enjoy. What would the alien think, I wondered, of the media hoopla over photos of light generated 13 billion years …
(Cont.) “If, in our modern obsession with consumption and its unquenchable need for energy, we’re setting the earth on fire, our American forebears were so eager to build their lives anew with plenty, they trashed forests, people (the Indians), and whole landscapes with reckless abandon and disregard for the long-haul future. In that respect, our …