Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JULY 10, 2026 – I don’t consider myself to be an “arts and crafts” person, though in my youth I did engage in what could be described as “craft.” For several summers up at the family cabin, on rainy days I made small birchbark canoes—stitched with strips of birchbark I sliced very carefully out of …
JUNE 18, 2026 – Today I barely glanced at news headlines, and I embarked on no conversations with anyone about anything of substance in the realm of worldly matters beyond some basic issues of business law. Instead, I followed the lead of our grandchildren—and their grandmother, who has a better sense than I for how …
MAY 7, 2026 – For anyone who’s attended an actual concert, this evening’s occasion at our granddaughter’s school was more of a pep rally. In any case, concert or pep rally, the event was staged in the gymnasium of Central Park Elementary School. Covering the high wall behind the risers where the students would face …
APRIL 26, 2026 – Most of the afternoon and early this evening was art and play time with our 10-year-old granddaughter. Today was the last day of the annual spectacular Art in Bloom exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art—an event not to be missed, especially in the company of Illiana. At closing time, we …
MARCH 31, 2026 – Yesterday our son Cory sent me a mid-day text seeking confirmation that I was planning to pick up our fourth-grader granddaughter from school. I replied immediately with a “thumbs up” emoji. At my stage of life, few things could give me greater delight than time with Illiana, starting with the 15-minute …
MARCH 26, 2026 – This morning Beth and I were up and at ’em[1] before broadening daylight revealed how drab the sky remained after last night’s rain. Beth was scheduled to catch a morning flight from MSP to BDL (Hartford, CT) to visit our New English grandchildren—and their parents. As usual, she was well organized …