Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 6, 2020 – To function successfully, a democracy requires a foundation of many supporting stones—a well- informed public, established rule of law, majority rule, minority rights . . . for starters. But the cornerstones of democracy are (1) free and fair elections; and (2) losers respecting results. Since November, the Naked Emperor has been …
JANUARY 5, 2021 – Our five-year-old granddaughter loves doing puzzles when she visits. She also likes Northwoods nature. There’ll come a day, I’m sure, a decade from now, when I’ll find Illiana sitting on the bench swing up at the lake, admiring the panoramic view. More accurately, I’ll assume she’s admiring the scenery as I …
JANUARY 4, 2021 – Four days into 2021 and the craziness continues: Naked Emperor twisting the arms off democracy to a groundswell of Republican cheers. This assault is nothing new for the Party of Trump, for which raw power is the sole objective. On one hand, I’m as disgusted as any democrat and every Democrat. …
JANUARY 3, 2021 – An essential trait for survival is adaptability. At the bank where I worked years ago, we were told, “Adapt or die.” I wasn’t sure if that was a dictate or an observation, but either way, I figured the outcome would be the same. I tried to adapt. I quit thinking like …
JANUARY 2, 2021 – “Huh?!” my wife said. On her part this isn’t an unusual response what I utter out of the blue; a non sequitur that leaves her contemplating our future, when she’s living in the “come and go as you please” wing of the nursing home, and I’m confined to the “keep this …
JANUARY 1, 2021 – This morning I took an early walk through the “tree garden” in the woods adjacent to the Red Cabin. My wife, our son and daughter-in-law remained back at the cabin—lounging, making coffee and waiting for the outside temperature to rise from 12F to a level more conducive to going . . …
DECEMBER 31, 2020 – Left to my own devices, I’d be one of those people who leaves the plastic, illuminated Santa on the roof year-round . . . or at least until all the snow melted, which in these parts would be around April Fools’ Day. Fortunately for the neighbors, I’m rarely left to my …
DECEMBER 30, 2020 – One of the books I’ve been reading lately is The Warmth of Other Suns – The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. The bookmark is approaching the index, and I will miss this book—and its characters—after I’ve finished. The title was lifted from a poem by American writer, …
DECEMBER 28, 2020 – Awhile back I mentioned a new old book I’m reading—The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture by James M. Billington. It’s one of the densest histories of any I’ve read. Part of the “density” is the subject matter, with its complicated mix of religion, politics, and military …
DECEMBER 26, 2020 – My mother never failed to make me laugh when she laughed at the joke about the guy on the bus with carrots sticking out of his ears and who says, “I can’t hear you, I’ve got carrots sticking out of my ears,” when a fellow passenger tells him he has carrots …
DECEMBER 26, 2020 – This Christmas Santa went all out. Under the tree he left an envelope wishing my wife a “Merry Christmas!” Inside the envelope was a fish card; that is, a nice card featuring a fine painting of a northern pike. The card happened to be remarkably similar to “fish” cards my brothers-in-law …
DECEMBER 25, 2020 – For years our family sent out an annual Christmas letter and family photo. My wife arranged for the photo. I wrote the letter and added a touch of DYI artwork for the “letterhead.” Somewhere along the line, however, the effort faded. For one thing, it seemed a little disingenuous to be …
DECEMBER 24, 2020 – Yesterday while I was workin’ away . . . at work . . . my cell phone rang, and up popped an 800-number. I suspected a robo-marketing call but answered anyway. It was a robo call but not a solicitation. It was from Eversource, the power company serving our family quarters …
DECEMBER 23, 2020 – Yesterday I was hard at work, fielding incoming email, firing off out-going messages; reviewing this document, revising that one; hitting a new snag here, devising a solution over there. Suddenly . . . ping . . . an email from my friend and piano collaborator, Sally Scoggin. We’d last rehearsed in …
DECEMBER 22, 2020 – . . . Not to be confused with “The Wise Men.” I used to think Christmas my freshman year of college was the worst ever—for the simple reason that our semester-end final exams were scheduled for the week after Christmas vacation, as it was called. I wasn’t the only student disturbed …
DECEMBER 21, 2020 – I’m currently studying a piece (Anton Dvořák’s Romance for Violin) with the marking molto espressivo (Italian for, “very expressive”) at the violin’s initial entrance. I’ve always been amused by such a marking, for it implies that only when you’re told explicitly should you be . . . expressive. But isn’t all …
DECEMBER 20, 2020 – Call me old-fashioned, but I love Christmas. The day isn’t not my favorite, though. Thanksgiving is—because it’s the unofficial start of Advent, the month-long Christmas season, which I like for reasons that would fill . . . a large sack in the back of an airborne sleigh. As I’ve revealed above, …
DECEMBER 19, 2020 – Recently, while combing through boxes of old papers, I discovered my “day file” from a year of my early law practice. The file contained copies of letters bound at the top and arranged in chronological order. Back in the day, my secretary would make two copies of every letter or memo …
DECEMBER 18, 2020 – Trump’s presidency revealed that “expertise” is essential. This doesn’t mean that experts are infallible. They err and fail, as when a plane—or market—crashes. But modern society and all hope of advancement would soon collapse altogether without experts. Given the impact of governmental policy, both political and topical expertise are essential in …
DECEMBER 17, 2020 – Those of us who believe in American democracy have long been outraged at Senate Republicans. How could they line up so shamelessly behind the Con Man who stole, then trashed their party and (former) ideals? Harangue, harangue! Here’s the good news: American democracy is alive and well. And here’s the bad …
DECEMBER 16, 2020 – Even as a kid, I was fascinated by Russia. I’m not sure what was to account for that early interest. Perhaps it was the slide show during our family’s annual get-together with the Ibeles a few days before Christmas in 1961. Warren Ibele, the dad, was Dean of the School of …
DECEMBER 15, 2020 – The overnight low reached a low for this season thus far: 11F. That’s officially . . . cold. Growing up in Minnesota I had plenty of exposure to extreme cold. I didn’t mind it, mainly because it was always a precursor to hot chocolate, which I loved—and still do. In seventh …
DECEMBER 14, 2020 – Christmas trees are now the shortage item that T.P. was in March. The local Lions Club, which has a large stock (trees, not T.P.) right through Big Star Day, had already closed two weeks ago. The nearby University of Minnesota Forestry Club had never opened in the first place. The Men’s …
DECEMBER 13, 2020 – Today’s Times tells about yesterday’s pro-Trump demonstrations protesting the “stolen” election. The continuing defiance follows the Supreme Court’s “thumbs downs” rejection of Trump’s last-gasp effort to reverse reality. One protester, a woman from Jacksonville, said “God told her” to drive to Atlanta to join the pro-Trump protest there and said she …
DECEMBER 12, 2020 – Recently I re-instituted a daily discipline: practicing my violin. This consists of scales and arpeggios, a movement of a Bach partita, then 20 minutes of new repertoire work—currently, Dvorak’s Romance. Who knows—maybe the pandemic will end and my piano collaborator and I can work up the Dvorak to house concert quality. …