Category: Encounters of the Every Day Kind

BOUND FOR RECYCLING?

DECEMBER 28, 2021 – Yesterday, I’d just pulled some old journals off my shelf, when friend/neighbor, “K.O.” Paulson stopped by to check on me. I’ve posted about him before—a smart, thoroughly amusing, tough-talking, literary savant/retired honors English teacher, and former baseball/basketball coach, who scouts locally for the Twins. I gave K.O. the current, unvarnished low-down—to …

“THE CORPORATE JET” (AND OTHER STORIES)

NOVEMBER 28, 2021 – Under clear skies yesterday, winds blew hard. Inside the local coffee shop steam rose from morning java. Through the caffeinated haze I heard stories of power and corruption too delicate for public consumption. Told for my amusement, they revealed the extreme zeal that drives our world. In hearing about crazy behavior, …

WHAT STILL DELIVERS

NOVEMBER 23, 2021 – Yesterday my wife and I were among the millions of Thanksgiving week air-travelers. From MSP to BDL, we experienced no bumps, not even over the Great Lakes. After a smooth flight, the three-point landing couldn’t have been executed more cleanly. “Nice landing,” I said to the captain as we exited the …

MY WALK ‘N TALK WITH K.O.

NOVEMBER 21, 2021 – I’ve mentioned him before—our neighbor, “K.O.,” exactly my age, a retired high school honors English teacher, a Twins scout, and a former Republican. Yesterday he joined me on my walk to “Little Switzerland,” where we hiked hills for the equivalent of 41 flights of stairs. Every encounter with K.O. is filled …

SPORTS CENTRAL

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 – I’ve not been a big fan of big sports, though as a kid I was a major fan of major league baseball. In 1965, on my transistor radio I listened to nearly every Twins game and bought baseball cards every other day. By season’s end I knew as much about baseball …

MY TRIP DOWNTOWN

OCTOBER 7, 2021 – Yesterday, I took . . . a business trip . . . to downtown Minneapolis, my first such venture in over 18 months.  Before the lockdown last March, I’d worked in downtown Minneapolis for decades. Every day I’d dress up, look the part, and interact with lots of people in the …

SOCIOLOGY AND WALKIN’ THE DOG

OCTOBER 6, 2021 – Contemporary life has been kind to dogs and the industries that support them—from chow manufacturers to purveyors of leashes and strollers; yes, strollers.  Recently, my youngest sister saw a dog owner in Central Park pushing two hounds (all dolled up) in a stroller.  In Minnesota I haven’t yet seen people pushing …

“HOW COOL IS THAT?!”

OCTOBER 1, 2021 – If I could magically, instantly acquire 20,000 hours of flying time, I’d consider getting my pilot’s lesson. Otherwise, at my age I wouldn’t trust my faculties in the cockpit of an airplane any more than I’d trust them astride a Harley. Thus, I must be satisfied as a ground-bound spectator, straining …

NEIGHBORHOOD MATERIAL

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 – If I’m short of material, all I need to do is hike to the end of our block and ring the Paulson’s doorbell. Invariably, Kent Paulson, retired honors English teacher at Roseville High School, has something pithy to say.  He’s never without a cutting comment, an insightful observation, or an amusing …

ICE AGE, SCHMICE AGE

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 – On Labor Day I labored on a cabin project. Just as a president would do before giving the green light to a dicey military operation, I gathered intelligence and assembled a 10-point checklist, the last item being, “Wing it.”  But as in evacuation after losing a war, s _ _ _ …

NON-ENDEERMENT

JULY 18, 2021 – Deer are a danger. They feast on gardens and new pine shoots, and they’re all too eager to ambush motorists traveling on country roads. Deer total cars, and we see plenty of deer totaled by cars when we drive to the Red Cabin in northwest Wisconsin. One-mile stretch of highway is …

IT TAKES A VILLAGE . . .

JULY 3, 2021 – My 05/15/21 post was entitled, “The Happiest Day in (This) Guy’s Life”—the day our new boat lift was relocated so that our new boat would float on and off the bunks. Now let me tell you about the saddest day in (this) guy’s life: the day before the biggest weekend of …

KAFKA IN A NUTSHELL (PART II OF II)

JUNE 24,2021 – (Cont.) “Once you pay,” Steve said, “go directly to DPS (department of public safety) four blocks away, and for 20 bucks, your son can get his license re-instated immediately.” I wondered what Steve knew about the bloody history of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. Instead, I thanked Steve—too …