Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
AUGUST 28, 2021 – “Stay off the MSG,” our son Byron texted in response to a synopsis of my dream Thursday night. Years ago he would have been right. Whenever I ate lunch at the Nanking a block from my office tower in downtown Minneapolis, I experienced hallucinogenic dreams the following night—after my hands tingled …
AUGUST 27, 2021 – As one of many, I’m following news reports and commentaries about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Much attention is on the moment; less focus on 20 years of failed policy. The ragged retreat is the bad fruit of long-lived failure. The more I read and listen, the more I scream, as …
AUGUST 26, 2021 – Today’s headlines could drive any thinking person into a cave, protected from a world on fire and free from people obsessed with their individual freedom—to hell with the rest of us. To calm myself down, I decided to play an old mind game: What would I do with a billion bucks? …
AUGUT 25, 2021 – Yesterday, while sitting on the porch, working away on my laptop, I espied our neighbor Kent walking past in the alley. Anticipating a profitable diversion from work, I called out to our local curmudgeon. He’s a retired English teacher who’s devoured nearly every piece of American fiction worth reading. He’s also …
AUGUST 24, 2021 – Yesterday I watched an exchange on FoxNews—my “go-to” source for rightwing propaganda. Tucker Carlson, a highly compensated creature of the rightwing audience-rightwing media feedback loop, was interviewing Brit Hume, the outlet’s stately “senior policy analyst.” The subject was “Biden’s botched evacuation” from Afghanistan. Mr. Snarly and Mr. Stately reveled in Biden’s …
AUGUST 23, 2021 – I first cordoned off the crime scene. I accomplished this figuratively, visualizing a “NO GO” zone (except for myself) within a 20-foot radius of the base of the sign. Next, I examined the sign itself for clues. Except for the popped rivets and 90-degree bend in the stake, the sign itself …
AUGUST 22, 2021 – Yesterday I took a hike in the tree garden of Björnholm. It was my inspection since our recent three-week road trip to New England. The day was beautiful—warm, sunny, with a breeze off the lake and reaching into the woods With hand-clippers I tamed the more aggressive raspberry bushes that had …
AUGUST 21, 2021 – I used to joke that in “Libertaria,” traffic lights would be privately owned, coin-operated, and voluntary. I’m no longer joking. Our biggest single threat is unfettered freedom to do whatever it takes to make a buck—and whatever purveyors of falsehoods, religious beliefs, or conspiracy theories order us (ironically) to do. What’s …
AUGUST 20, 2021 – In these days of debacle, I imagine a conversation with my long-gone elders. We’re sitting on the porch, sipping lemonade while discussing current events. Aging folks view the world differently from how they found it in their younger years. I thus apply a range of settings to my imaginary time machine. …
AUGUST 19, 2021 – I never, ever thought I’d say, “Make America Great Again!” Whether I’ll don a red “MAGA” cap remains to be seen, but having learned never to say, “never” . . . “Really?!” you say. Really. With great nostalgia I recall when every kid at school was given a Mantoux test for …
AUGUST 18, 2021 – Yesterday I witnessed two family members exchange barbs over our exit from Afghanistan. As argument ensued (via texting), I was reminded how difficult it is to accept loss, mistakes, and failure. On an emotional/psychological level, denial of defeat is understandable: it’s a survival trait. If we surrendered whenever we “got things …
AUGUST 17, 2021 – During a recent trip to Home Depot, we loaded a cart with several items manufactured in Vietnam. These prompted me to think about the intractable Vietnam War and our ignoble exit from the country in 1975. Those of us who were old enough to have noticed remember the Fall of Saigon, …
AUGUST 16, 2021 – Now that we’ve arrived home safely from a 2,900-mile road trip, I can write about silent road rage: hyper-speed. I’ve driven and ridden on enough byways the world over to know that America has no monopoly on crazy driving. No one who survives a bus or taxi ride in Egypt or …
AUGUST 15, 2021 – (Cont.) The surrounding beauty was created by millions of years of geologic forces and biological evolution. We spent much of the day hiking through this dynamic painting, absorbing at every step, the dramatic scenery. As nimble as she is intrepid, the harpist who wins wild applause when she tames the most …
AUGUST 14, 2021 – As a biting fly in the car kept me alert, we hurtled west on I80 across Pennsylvania and Ohio to Friday’s destination just beyond Toledo. The day had begun in Cragsmoor, NY, 90 minutes from Manhattan. Our proximity to Gotham reminded me of things that people back home in Minnesota have …
AUGUST 12, 2021 – I used to worry our country would descend into civil war—Dems vs. Reps; haves vs. have nots; people who relied solely on Fox for news vs. those who didn’t. Now, I’m not so sure. Perhaps the outcome is simply . . . a wholesale breakdown of norms; a chaotic unraveling of …
AUGUST 11, 2021 – We arrived in Falmouth Monday afternoon to visit Jeff—my wedding best man, Bowdoin friend and roommate—and Val, his lovely wife. None of us could remember how long it’d been since our previous time on Cape Cod, but in the tradition of old friends, we picked right up where we’d left off. …
AUGUST 10 2021 – Yesterday my sisters and I gathered for one more long visit together before dispersing to our respective “corners.” The last time we’d assembled like this was a full four years ago. With my wife and a brother-in-law as patient observers, my sisters and I sat on the veranda of the place …
AUGUST 9, 2021 – My three sisters gathered in Lyme, CT over the weekend. What drew them here was the 75th annual meeting of the Huntley National Association. I attended vicariously thanks to my sisters’ vivid descriptions. Back in time, our grandfather, whose mother was a Huntley, was very active in the association. He paid …
AUGUST 8, 2021 – Now I’m a full day of being a year older. It’ll take getting used to, just as it did (back in the day) entering the correct year on checks written in January. Of my many August 7ths so far, yesterday’s rated high. In the morning, I basked in the generous affection …
AUGUST 7, 2021 – For me and a family member of far greater stature than I, today starts yet another year around the sun. Yesterday, I closed out my 66th year with an excursion up the Connecticut shore from Old Saybrook to Watch Hill, RI, then back to our base in Chester. Highlights included a …
AUGUST 6, 2021 – Yesterday we roamed the local scene just up river from Old Saybrook. Of all the scenes, shops, and people we encountered, none beat the junk store along a sleepy stretch of a lazy route. Stacked, strewn, and leaning outside were things large and small, rusted and peeling, collected from who-knows-where-or-when. After …
AUGUST 5, 2021 – Yesterday our friend Steve and neighbor in Lyme gave me a lift to “Lyme Light”—our family’s place on Hamburg Cove, where I spent the day alone. I relished the time and space to write with a view, and when writer’s cramp set in, to trim trees and wrestle vines. First, I …
AUGUST 4, 2021 – Yesterday evening we were joined by friends in a full-scale repast, a piece of living art framed in a tastefully appointed setting. In one corner of the painting we partook from a charcuterie board bearing cheeses, fruits, pâté, and specialty sausage, all perfectly arranged in resplendent abundance. To the side, wine …
AUGUST 3, 2021 – Connecticut is a cornucopia of parks, nature preserves, bubbling brooks, secluded ponds, and old growth trees. It’s a nature-lover’s paradise. Yesterday, as our son Byron and his wife, Mylène headed out for work, I Googled, “How many state parks in Connecticut?” Answer: 139. I had to narrow it down to “State …