Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 – I’ve now started the “War Years” portion of Carl Sandburg’s two-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know “polarization,” read this work. But here’s the thing: the fracturing didn’t happen overnight. The seeds had been sown when slaves were introduced to Jamestown in 1619; when 13 independent colonies debated …
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 – After putting the last of our recent house guests onto the airplane, my wife and I and friend Sue sauntered off for another day at the Minnesota State Fair. Sue is delightfully curious, ensuring that we wouldn’t miss a thing. Given the hordes of other fair-goers, it was hard to miss …
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 – Friday, while at historic Fort Snelling just outside Minneapolis, I was struck by a map of Minnesota on which just a handful of names appeared—neither of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul) being among them. The map depicted important sites in the lore and history of the Dakotah Indians who …
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 – After a two-week hiatus from the news, I dared to take a peek. My glance prompted two thoughts: 1. People’s world views are determined primarily by people’s perceptions of how their bread is buttered; and accordingly, 2. A considerable degree of government regulation is a necessity. “Bread” is financial well-being. “Butter” …
AUGUST 31, 2019 – Yesterday we took our international guests on a boat ride down the Mississippi River and then to the historic Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Mighty Miss and the Minnesota River. Much water had flowed since I’d last seen the old fort, built in 1820. It’s staffed by engaging, knowledgeable …
AUGUST 29, 2019 – Yesterday we took our international house guests to . . . the Minnesota State Fair, the nation’s largest. I love to see the familiar with people for whom it is unfamiliar. Take gargantuan, snowplows, for example, on prominent display. Or hot-dish (Minnesotaspeak for “casserole”) on a stick . . . or …
AUGUST 28, 2019 – One has to be careful about generalizations. If based on unrepresentative data points, generalizations can lead to inaccurate extrapolations. Generalizing about a whole culture or nationality is particularly perilous. However, I’ve now read enough about the Portuguese and spent sufficient time among some to conclude confidently that they are a plucky …
AUGUST 27, 2019 – A few of us of the 7.2 billion who inhabit earth are emerging from an extraordinary experience in friendship. Our younger son and his wife wanted to host at our family’s northwoods retreat, a big celebration of their marriage earlier in New York City and more recently in Portugal. Their friends …
AUGUST 18, 2019 – Friday we picked up travelers from overseas flights—extended family and friends from France and Portugal. Our dual-national daughter-in-law Mylène had arrived Thursday from New York; our son Byron and his birth mother, Sang Hee, fly in next Tuesday. After clearing customs and baggage claim with extraordinary ease (our guests remarked how friendly …
AUGUST 16, 2019 – Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times included a front-page story about financier and influence peddler, Elliott Broidy. If you hadn’t heard of him, now you have: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/us/politics/elliott-broidy-donald-trump.html?searchResultPosition=1 I was aboard the bus on my way to work when I read this remarkable piece of investigative journalism. It exposes what goes on behind …
AUGUST 15, 2019 – As administrator of my uncle’s estate, I sold some stock—on July 12. Little did I know that I’d have to growl at various levels of “customer service representatives” and expend my entire repertoire of expletives before the check arrived would arrive–30 days later. My extreme frustration was almost matched by my curiosity …
AUGUST 14, 2019 – I try to be a nice person. Generally speaking, I think I am nice . . . most of the time . . . in public, at least . . . when I have to be. But then someone calls me out. Not to my face, not expressly, but by showing me “nice” …
AUGUST 13, 2019 – “Doc” Andberg, our town vet and family friend, ran his first marathon a few years after B.C.E. 490 when Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens. I thought Doc was too old to be doing such a thing. He was older than my dad, for Pete’s sake. However, one day on the golf …
AUGUST 12, 2019 – Yesterday, my wife and I continued preparations for 112 guests at our cabin. Nothing else makes the mind so single minded. Among my assignments: cleaning up the writing table in the “scriptorium,” which has become a guestroom. The surface of my desk, which I’d built years ago out of beautiful, reclaimed pine, …
AUGUST 11, 2019 – Last Monday I posted my 100th story on this blog site. That’s 50,000 words—one-half of an average length novel. So far, so good . . . or maybe not “so” good, but just “okay” good. If you’ve been reading my posts, I hope you’ve enjoyed them. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing them. At this …
AUGUST 10, 2019 – Today I criticize Republicans’ defense of corporate America. My target: money, money, and . . . money. There’s nothing inherently wrong with money. It’s simply a medium of exchange. However, the American corporate obsession with short term money (profitability) and money in politics undermines our future. First, take executive compensation. For some time, …
AUGUST 9, 2019 – To be honest, I’m not following the Democratic presidential campaign very closely. I don’t have to. I just need to vote for the Democratic nominee. The 2020 election will not be one in which a responsible citizen, in my judgment, should express displeasure with both major parties. A vote for any candidate …
AUGUST 8, 2019 – This story ought to lessen the despair among my fellow non-Republicans who, with every White House Tweet storm, feel a new wave of nauseum. Toward the end of my daily walk/hill climb, I hike down an alley that leads into our neighborhood. Below a short retaining wall on one side of the …
AUGUST 7, 2019 – Today I turn 65. Readers older than I have standing to agree or disagree with the observations and resolutions I’m about to make. People under 65 will be left to wonder . . . until they’re 65. 65 is when I qualify for Medicare and a net savings of $500/mo. in health …
AUGUST 6, 2019 – The most reliable barometer of America’s future is the desire of people to come here to forge a better life. The stronger the desire, the more hope for our future. If the day comes, however, when ambitious people no longer view America as a beacon of opportunity, then know that we are …
AUGUST 5, 2019 – Gun control; immigration reform; student loan burdens; opioid crisis; arms sales to Saudia Arabia; support of Israel; relations with NATO allies; relations with Russia; relations with China; disease control; tariffs; war in Afghanistan; religious extremism; white nationalism; investment in public transit; transportation safety; affordable and accessible quality health care; storage of nuclear …
AUGUST 4, 2019 – The next day was another hot, sunny day. Starting around 10:00 in the morning, we jumped on our bikes and patrolled the beach end of Rice Street. Occasionally we’d take a spin around the block. By 11:00 a sizable crowd of swimmers and sunbathers had gathered. Time to strike. I felt an …
AUGUST 3, 2019 – I went to work on my clump of clay: Jedediah Carson passed by here in the year 1845. Bobby watched closely. When I finished, he asked, “What should I write?” I thought a bit and recalled the American Heritage article about the Kensington Runestone—the large stone uncovered by a farmer in rural …
AUGUST 2, 2019 – It was in early August before fifth grade. I’d been down at the beach most of the day. For a change of pace, I went home, hopped on my bike and rode figure eights in the street in front of our house. Something—boredom?—triggered a thought. I pulled out of a figure eight …
AUGUST 1, 2019 – Every good story involves a little background: FIRST: By the age of eight, I was hooked on history. My dad ensured that. He read aloud to me books like William Prescott’s Conquest of Mexico and articles out of his bi-monthly issues of American Heritage magazine. History fired up my imagination. SECOND: Our house …