Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
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. …
DECEMBER 11, 2020 – After a week of solitude and natural beauty that surround me in the Northwoods, I’m about to relinquish occupancy of the Red Cabin to our son and daughter-in-law who arrive later this weekend from New York. They’ll quarantine here until Christmas so that our family can celebrate together safely. I’ve hung …
DECEMBER 10, 2020 – As I dig deeper into my “tree garden” project, I’m reminded of my reaction to Black Lives Matter. How in the world could these two matters—trees and racial justice—be connected? Read on. As revealed in prior posts, our older son’s community activism prompted my wife and me to learn more about …
DECEMBER 9, 2020 – As I departed city life for country life, my wife said, “Be sure you always have your phone and that it’s charged.” She knows I spend lots of time working in the woods, where there are a million ways to get into trouble, many exceedingly dumb. In addition to taking the …
DECEMBER 8, 2020 – For today’s post I’d composed another anti-Trump rant but then stumbled across something far more interesting: a fireplace stone. Yesterday evening I was reading my father’s book, My “Auto” Biography. To write about his life, he used the clever vehicle (as it were) of family automobile ownership. When I say “book,” …
DECEMBER 7, 2020 – If you’re a Boomer, just try getting your head wrapped around this: the youngest American WW II veteran is 93. If you’re younger than a Boomer, you probably consign WW II to ancient history, right back there with the Civil War or . . . the Peloponnesian War. By the time …
DECEMBER 6, 2020 – Here in the Northwoods, nature’s beauty of longest duration is mostly visual. Extended periods of silence, however, can be just as edifying as the scenery. When I mention our surrounding quietude, my wife reminds me that these parts aren’t as quiet as they seem. She reminds me of the time on …
DECEMBER 5, 2020 – Yesterday afternoon I split town for the Red Cabin to take advantage of some unusually mild weather over the next several days. Because of the pandemic, I’ve spent more time in the woods this year than ever before. I call it—the woods, not the pandemic—“imagination paradise,” a place where nature stirs …
DECEMBER 4, 2020 – Yesterday evening I listened to CNN’s Jake Tapper interview Biden and Harris. Their joint appearance revealed how their remarkable partnership is developing—for the good of the country. I must confess that in early Democratic debates, Biden didn’t form a positive impression with me. He looked “over the hill,” a bit of …
DECEMBER 3, 2020 – Yesterday I received a call from a lawyer asking me for advice about a case he’s working on. His client was pressing to “buy time” by bringing what I call a “monkey-wrench” motion to derail an upcoming hearing on the opposing side’s motion to dismiss. Although the lawyer offered to pay …
DECEMBER 2, 2020 – Recently, I launched a new project: studying Korean. I’m working from a beginner’s book given to me by our younger son’s birth mother, whom we’ve gotten to know quite well. So far, I’ve tackled, if not mastered, the letters (Hangul)—10 vowels, 14 consonants. This effort is akin to that of an …
DECEMBER 1, 2020 – In downsizing files that occupy too much household storage space, I’ve uncovered many ancient relics. Some are so amusing, I should be charging myself admission. Take for example a bound, 33-page handout from a 1999 Continuing Legal Education seminar, entitled, “Internet Legal Research ‘101’.” The first heading was, “What is the …
NOVEMBER 30, 2020 – Unless you’re Norwegian, you’ve probably never heard of Jan Baalsrud. I hadn’t until the Netflix movie, The 12th Man. As I later learned from a 2016 New York Times magazine article, the film accurately portrays actual events. (The scenery’s out-of-this-world . . . because it’s in Norway.) Baalsrud was part of …
NOVEMBER 29, 2020 – Late last night, after hauling out the garbage I stopped in the middle of the driveway and gazed at Orion and his entourage. I then did something unscientific: I made “a wish upon a star.” I then did something more scientific: I pondered the compound odds of (a) “intelligent” life existing …