Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JULY 17, 2020 – Recently, on my evening walk I heard an outdoor concert by a dozen student . . .VIOLISTS! Led by their indomitable instructor, Elizabeth Cregan, these high school kids put out some great sound for an attentive, appreciative neighborhood audience. I’d met Ms. Cregan and her husband during the week following the …
JULY 16, 2020 – Ever since 63 million Americans cast their votes for a person who, in my 60+ years’ experience of gauging people, was utterly and patently ill-suited for any position of authority or responsibility, I’ve wondered—how can this be? By way of background, I attended school—kindergarten on up. I’ve held a number of jobs …
JULY 15, 2020 – In the days after 9/11, America was united, right, wrong, or indifferent—except at the time, no one was indifferent. Flags flew high. Pride stood tall. We all were “in this together.” In fact, for a short, precious time, the world was united, as reflected by the French president’s famous quip, “We’re all Americans …
JULY 14, 2020 – I’m not talking here about delusions inside the Naked Emperor’s head, accepted or acquiesced in by his supporters and enablers. I’m thinking of books labeled and acknowledged as full-on fiction. Over decades, my desultory book-reading career has involved mostly non-fiction. “With so much to know about the non-fiction world,” I’d say, …
July 13, 2020 – The other night I stepped out onto our dock to behold the heavens. I do so often and each time become ever more awestruck. High-powered binoculars multiply the starry display into mind-blowing proportions. I think about ordinary physics—time, light, distance; about astrophysics—the make-up of those burning lights. I think about how …
JULY 12, 2020 – When I was little, Dad bought a cheap chunk of farmland north of town and planted 10,000 pine seedlings. Later he bought a larger, cheaper piece of prairie in a neighboring county and planted 20,000 more. His idea was to raise Christmas trees to supplement his income as Clerk of Court …
JULY 11, 2020 – After a week at the Red Cabin I’m feeling safe from humanity. I rarely even skim “the news” and rely on my wife, who reads it, to inform me if the world has in fact gone over the ever-threatening proverbial falls. I must confess, however, that yesterday I glanced at headlines. …
JULY 10, 2020 – Yesterday, my wife hung a hummingbird feeder on each side of the porch of the Red Cabin. From nowhere appeared a flock of ruby-throated hummingbirds. Actually, the term is a “charm”—according to Decoda, Canadian-based organization promoting literacy (isn’t the internet a wonderful thing?). As I write, four members of a charm …
JULY 9, 2020 – Yesterday evening we sat out on the dock watching some amazing birdlife. The two herons that hang out on the shore several hundred feet in one direction flew back and forth. On one of these trips a heron communicated with a couple of mallards swimming past the end of the dock. …
JULY 8, 2020 – Among my required triennial continuing legal education credits are two regarding “elimination of bias.” To satisfy this requirement I recently attended a webinar entitled, “The Impact of Bias in Negotiations and Mediation” by Nina Meierding, a nationally acclaimed expert. I hung on every word. Back in the day, “old school” lawyers …
JULY 7, 2020 – On our way to the Red Cabin, we pass through the trim town of Cumberland, Wisconsin, population 2,170. Mom-and-pop stores line Main Street, the sole commercial street in town. At the economic center of town is an old 3M plant across from the high school football field. The most remarkable feature …
JULY 6, 2020 – I’m not a “math and science” guy, though in school I did just fine. It’s just that I didn’t advance very far. I was too busy being a “words” guy. Still am. No apologies. And my disclaimer regarding math and science doesn’t disqualify me from deploying words about a scientific concern. …
JULY 5, 2020 – When your dwelling loses power, you’re reminded of the basics of modernity: running water, storing perishable foods, and most important of all—phone chargers. After a lazy, tropical day at the Red Cabin, my wife and I were about to sit down for our Fourth of July “barbeque” supper. Preparations had involved …
JULY 4, 2020 – (Cont.) “Who? I think I don’t know you,” he said. However much my chum might’ve changed physically, he wouldn’t have developed a thick accent. I showed him the photograph and explained why I’d thought he was Dick V. By this time, the woman had approached. By the shape of her mouth …
JULY 3, 2020 – On this cusp of Independence Day, I feel no shame in being American; no more shame than I’d feel imprisoned in a zoo of odd creatures, from a sloth to a turtle to a peacock to a lion to a wolf to a (breast-beating gorilla) to a playful porpoise to an …
JULY 2, 2020 – (Cont.) They pulled up their canoe onto the small landing of the little island and unloaded their gear. While the kids pitched skippers across the smooth waters around the island, Grandpa and Uncle Sugar pulled the big umbrella tent out of its oilskin bag. They soon discovered, however, that the island …
JULY 1, 2020 – Many hardy, nature-loving Minnesotans make annual pilgrimages to the million-acre BWCA (“Boundary Waters Canoe Area”) along the Canadian border. I’m not among them—the pilgrims, that is. Instead, we make regular pilgrimages to our family’s lacustrian Shangri-La in northwestern Wisconsin, south of Lake Superior and well south of the BWCA. Before my …
JUNE 30, 2020 – I must confess. Over the years, I’ve often skipped the introduction to many a book I’ve read or attempted to read. “Why an ‘introduction’?” I’d silently ask every time. “If it’s important enough to include, why not incorporate it into the book itself?” Often written by someone other than the author, the …
JUNE 29, 2020 – Time for (another) time-out from the headlines . . . and expletives. Time to re-engage with nature to remind ourselves that forces greater than ourselves are in control. The pandemic should’ve told us, but way too many folks still think it’s a Democratic hoax. So, back to nature . . . …
JUNE 28, 2020 – If I had 15-minutes with Biden, I’d say: “Joe, you’re in a unique position. You don’t have to worry about the electability of your VP pick. “Polls show you have a commanding lead over Naked Emperor and Sycophant-in-Chief. Doofus Duo will continue to plummet, and you’ll win by a landslide . …
JUNE 27, 2020 – The more our world seems to descend into chaos, the more I descend into . . . a study of history. Currently I’m still working with the Renaissance, but that period keeps pulling me back to the Middle Ages and pushing me forward into the Reformation. No matter where I land, …
JUNE 26, 2020 – I have four nieces who are stand-outs. One is also a stand-up—Erica Rhodes, comedienne-extraordinaire. Based in L.A., she’s performing this week—live and via Zoom—at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. In her routine she pokes fun at uncertainties about Covid-19, saying, “No one knows anything anymore!” Her comedic statement reminds me …
JUNE 25, 2020 – When I started law school, I figured the easiest subject would be “ethics.” I thought I had a solid handle on “right” and “wrong” and would know intuitively such foundational rules as, you can’t lie and you can’t steal from client funds in your firm’s trust account. Little did I appreciate …
JUNE 24, 2020 – I’ve never liked John Bolton, and now I like him less. Burned by the Naked Emperor, he decided to get even instead of mad. What’s “even” does little good. In an interview on the Late Show, Bolton said he wouldn’t vote for Trump in November but wouldn’t vote for Biden either. …
JUNE 23, 2020 – People reacting to the recent rash of statue sackings fall into three groups. First: angry folks pulling down symbols of racism—symbols erected by very white, very dead white . . . women (surprise!) who’d organized themselves in 1894 as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, primarily to build all those statues. …