Category: Encounters of the Every Day Kind

BARKING IN SWEDISH

JUNE 9, 2021 – Barking neighborhood dogs used to annoy me. Recently, however, I quit barking—to avoid another manifestation of “old.” A cranky geezer is as appealing as “grampaw” clearing extra phlegm in the morning. Time to act 10 years younger than I am. This attitude-adjustment renders me almost amiable. Got a rescue dog that …

FULL CIRCLE

JUNE 3, 2021 – When a client called me this morning, he asked, “Are you up on Walden Pond?” He knows of my attachment to the wilds of northern Wisconsin. “As a matter of fact . . .” I said. I’m here seeking “the cure” for the obstinate pain I described in Tuesday’s post. Coincidentally, …

A LINE AND A HOOK

MAY 23, 2021 – Over the past two days I’ve enjoyed two scintillating conversations with two neighbors. I’m amazed that it took so long to open these nearby treasure chests of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The first encounter occurred two doors down our alley. Mike was cleaning the inside of his car as I walked …

“LITTLE KITTY”

JULY 23, 2020 – I’m allergic to cats, but that didn’t stop my family from taking in a feral, three-week-old (so said the vet) kitten in distress our young boys found under the porch at the Red Cabin in October 1999. They named it “Koosh,” because it looked like an all-gray “kooshball.”  It developed the …

PITCHIN’ HAY, SHOVELIN’ SNOW

DECEMBER 2, 2019 – With the onset of another winter—my first under Medicare—I have again resisted buying a snowblower.  My reasons are several.  First, our garage is a “Democrat Garage,” meaning, in line with my informal and years’-long survey, it’s too chock full of stuff (in addition to a motor vehicle) to accommodate another piece …

THANKSGIVING FOR . . . DATA STORAGE

NOVEMBER 28, 2019 – In tribute to the origins of the day, I’m plenty thankful for plenty—all the people and bounty in my life. But as we go ’round the turkey table expressing our individual thanks for one thing or another, I’ll have to say, “data storage.” That’s right: data storage.  Currently, I’m moving 20 …

GOING FROM “BAD” TO “GOOD”

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 – Last weekend I found “bad” and “good” on opposite sides of our house. The “bad”: a situation in which a whole lot of people dodged a bullet . . . or more precisely, a whole lot of bullets.  Minutes later, on the other side of the house, I encountered “good,” as …

ESCAPE . . . NORTH

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 – For a November day in Minnesota, yesterday was a “keeper”—mild temperatures (40 – 44F) with periods of sunshine.  News from Washington promised to be “hot” with impeachment testimony, but between my schedule and my commitment to seek “treatment” for political addiction, I paid little attention to “breaking news.” In the afternoon, …

ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE

NOVEMBER 9, 2019 – With every new business client, I like to elicit background information. It facilitates rapport, and rapport gives me greater broader, deeper insight into the client’s needs, concerns, flexibility, and level of sophistication—so I can calibrate my communication accordingly. Plus, I’m curious about what makes people tick. Everyone has a story, and …

EULOGY (PART III OF III)

OCTOBER 12, 2019 – “At one of my violin lessons with Symphonie Espagnole,” I told him, “my violin teacher stopped to tell me a story about it. “During World War II he’d been a tail-gunner on a B-17. On a night mission, his plane got hit.  The crew bailed out over the Allied/German line. My …

EULOGY (PART II OF III)

OCTOBER 11, 2019 – Thanks to a recalcitrant lawnmower (ours) and my small, back-deck, do-it-yourself project, Herb came out of his shell and all the way up our driveway.  If, as he informed me, he hadn’t gotten along with his domineering father, he did take after him when it came to tools, small engines, mechanical …

EULOGY (PART I OF III)

OCTOBER 10, 2019 – My wife said I was his best friend.  That statement is sad to the extent it was true.  I wasn’t much of a friend. In earlier years, I’d had little interaction with our neighbor directly across the alley.  His father, the retired owner of a machine shop, had been the dominant …

CAPT. “AIRMANSHIP”

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 – Yesterday we attended a retirement party for our friend Joe Craven, long-time commercial pilot (Northwest/Delta) and former Navy airman.  Frankly, I’m sorry Joe is retiring. I always felt safer knowing that he was among the ranks of American commercial pilots. Whenever we socialize with Cravens, Rich Thomas, a mutual friend of …

ROUGH PLACE, THE WORLD

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 – In the splendid weather of late, each morning with coffee and The Times out on the back porch—and each evening there with lemonade and a good book—are blessings to be savored. Thus, you can imagine my chagrin when these simple porch pleasures were denied by offenses to the senses. Yesterday morning …