Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 22, 2023 – In June my wife and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary. I’ve learned many important lessons over the course of this partnership. One is to put your dishes in the dishwasher. Second is to put them in the dishwasher right away. Another lesson is, if you arrive at the cabin and …
JANUARY 20, 2023 – When I was a kid, I couldn’t bear being inside on a nice day, especially in the summer. That was half the reason I hated the violin. Whether Mother was nagging me to practice or Dad was dragging me to a Saturday lesson, I couldn’t stand being indoors when I could be …
JANUARY 19, 2023 – In these parts, snow—manna to a skier—is still falling from heaven. My wife, who isn’t a skier, would say it’s falling from hell, a thermically and directionally paradoxical perspective. I recently gained a better understanding of her disdain after I backed my car into a snowbank up at the lake and …
DECEMBER 7, 2022 – Today in 1941 is the “day [that] will live in infamy,” so said President Roosevelt—the second Roosevelt, but I’ll come back to that later—in his speech to a joint session of Congress the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. “In infamy,” as it turns out, doesn’t mean “in eternity.” …
NOVEMBER 22, 2022 – My wife doesn’t know how lucky she is not to be at the Red Cabin with me—livin’ the life of Riley five days in a row. After just three days I was well into an eremitic routine. More than a week and I’d be a classic example of what happens to …
NOVEMBER 15, 2022 – Today I experienced a bad case of . . . myself. The back story: Upon successful emergence from my bone marrow stem cell transplant, I was prescribed fluorescent-yellow medicine as palatable as transmission fluid. The intended purpose of the daily dose of this awful stuff was to prevent bacterial pneumonia. When …
NOVEMBER 13, 2022 – Yesterday, heading out on my walk, I encountered our neighbors Kate and Dave across the alley. We hadn’t chatted in a while, so I stopped to talk. They’re smart, bright, articulate, well-informed and invariably have something worthwhile to hear. Among yesterday’s takes-away was a film recommendation: Don’t Look Up, on Netflix. …
NOVEMBER 3, 2022 – This morning at daybreak while I was on my pre-breakfast, woodland walk, my good friend Linda Hoeschler called. It’d been a while since we’d talked. By way of my 10/10-12/2022 posts, however, she was aware of my encounter with “the stick.” She admonished me to be careful while up here in …
SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 – Lately I’ve been working on the 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle (a physical map of North America) that our daughter-in-law, Mylène, gave me innocently a year ago—knowing my interest in maps. My unanticipated diagnosis and treatment provided ample opportunity to tackle the puzzle. Not until I’d emerged from the transplant process, however, did …
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 – (Cont.) At this late hour, I feel a bit like one of the running marathon finishers holding onto my silver space blanket with one hand and a cup of water in the other, as I stagger toward the heap of plastic bags with my race number on the outside and a …
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 – (Cont.) This morning I entered a room of our house and discovered a patch of sunshine on the old, oak floor. This unexpected burst of light lifted my spirits and renewed my energy. In the reigning silence I heard my father’s voice. “The sun is the source of all life on …
SEPTEMBER 4, 2022 – (Cont.) When my mother got older she became obsessed (apparently) about her kids being rash. “Don’t do anything rash,” was a regular part of her farewell after every visit at “the home.” I won’t speak for my generally well-behaved sisters, but I’ll readily acknowledge that at an earlier stage of life, …
AUGUST 29, 2022 – (Cont.) Day Six. Yesterday’s appointment was another visit to the “MERCY CLINIC,” rather abandoned on the weekend, except for skeletal staff to administer to transplant patients like me—a two-day patient, a three-day, a six-day patient, I was informed. The wait was long enough for me to log a 10-minute walk up …
AUGUST 25, 2022 – (Cont.) Roll back yesterday’s “video” of my LAX – LGA flight after take-off, climbing out of L.A. Having repeated my silent entreaty to the aviation gods for a “safe and uneventful take-off, a safe and uneventful flight, and a safe and uneventful landing” (four times, for extra efficacy–after all, airline safety …
AUGUST 23, 2022 – Blogger’s note: Wife is a sweetie. And I apologize for blowing way past my self-imposed daily word quota (of yore). (Cont.) Late Sunday evening my wife and I were still in the throes of preparing our abode for “cancer con”—short for “convalescence from the effects of cancer chemo treatment.” She had …
AUGUST 20, 2022 – Blogger’s note: The gracious reader will accept my apologies for the poor self-editing of yesterday’s post. The explanation (versus excuse) is that our hyper-imaginative granddaughter was under our day-long charge. Among her plays, musical performances, story-telling, painting sessions, and backyard expeditions, all of which required audience/spectator participation, I assembled very few …
AUGUST 18, 2022 – (Cont.) By day’s end yesterday, I was an A+ patient. The stem cell harvest produced a bumper crop—over 9 million cells, topping the goal by a million. My sister Jenny calls me a millionaire. Now the orders are in for the next few days: Covid test today—good thing, having woken up …
AUGUST 17, 2022 – (Cont.) I once had a friend, a close friend, a work colleague, whom I met my first day on the job as the lucky recruit to manage the “work-out” (deals gone bad) division of bank’s corporate trust department. The guy who hired me, it turned out, would later be escorted ignobly …
AUGUST 15, 2022 – (Cont.) “Is it okay if he drives himself to the appointment this afternoon?” my wife asked the physician’s assistant. “Sure,” said the PA. “Well, actually,” I said, “because of the sedation this morning, I’ve been instructed not to drive or make any important decisions for the rest of the day.” The …
AUGUST 4, 2022 – (Cont.) If the police had been summoned to Matheny’s, it wouldn’t have been Jenny’s first run-in with cops. When Jenny was four, Mother had enrolled her in Mrs. Ward’s tap-dance academy in an old mansion a block south of the post office in downtown Anoka. The main thing Jenny learned in …
AUGUST 3, 2022 – I have three sisters, two older, one younger. The older ones have always been at the head of the class—any class in which they’ve found themselves. When we were growing up, each was my gold standard for brains, talent, and deportment. As far as I knew and observed, they always toed …
FEBRUARY 13, 2022 – For this, my 1,000th post, I’m taking a break from India to return to immediate concerns. Six weeks have passed since my first session with Dr. Kolla, my oncologist, who, as life turns, was born, reared, and educated in . . . India. I’d choose none other than this extraordinary doctor …
DECEMBER 17, 2021 – As I lie low with The Blasted Cough, and no holiday visitors are expected at our hearth this year, we’re not buying a cut-from-the earth Christmas tree. What’s ironic is that by my latest count, we have 17 “pretend” Christmas trees on display—not including the flat, felt tree (which our granddaughter …
NOVEMBER 25, 2021 – Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. First, its centerpiece is culinary abundance, and at the center of the centerpiece is a stuffed turkey, my favorite land-based food. Second, I enjoy the story of the Original Feast, which occurred exactly four centuries ago this year. However mythicized and romanticized, it’s a …
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 …