Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JULY 15, 2020 – In the days after 9/11, America was united, right, wrong, or indifferent—except at the time, no one was indifferent. Flags flew high. Pride stood tall. We all were “in this together.” In fact, for a short, precious time, the world was united, as reflected by the French president’s famous quip, “We’re all Americans …
JULY 14, 2020 – I’m not talking here about delusions inside the Naked Emperor’s head, accepted or acquiesced in by his supporters and enablers. I’m thinking of books labeled and acknowledged as full-on fiction. Over decades, my desultory book-reading career has involved mostly non-fiction. “With so much to know about the non-fiction world,” I’d say, …
JULY 12, 2020 – When I was little, Dad bought a cheap chunk of farmland north of town and planted 10,000 pine seedlings. Later he bought a larger, cheaper piece of prairie in a neighboring county and planted 20,000 more. His idea was to raise Christmas trees to supplement his income as Clerk of Court …
JULY 11, 2020 – After a week at the Red Cabin I’m feeling safe from humanity. I rarely even skim “the news” and rely on my wife, who reads it, to inform me if the world has in fact gone over the ever-threatening proverbial falls. I must confess, however, that yesterday I glanced at headlines. …
JULY 7, 2020 – On our way to the Red Cabin, we pass through the trim town of Cumberland, Wisconsin, population 2,170. Mom-and-pop stores line Main Street, the sole commercial street in town. At the economic center of town is an old 3M plant across from the high school football field. The most remarkable feature …
JULY 3, 2020 – On this cusp of Independence Day, I feel no shame in being American; no more shame than I’d feel imprisoned in a zoo of odd creatures, from a sloth to a turtle to a peacock to a lion to a wolf to a (breast-beating gorilla) to a playful porpoise to an …
JUNE 27, 2020 – The more our world seems to descend into chaos, the more I descend into . . . a study of history. Currently I’m still working with the Renaissance, but that period keeps pulling me back to the Middle Ages and pushing me forward into the Reformation. No matter where I land, …
JUNE 26, 2020 – I have four nieces who are stand-outs. One is also a stand-up—Erica Rhodes, comedienne-extraordinaire. Based in L.A., she’s performing this week—live and via Zoom—at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis. In her routine she pokes fun at uncertainties about Covid-19, saying, “No one knows anything anymore!” Her comedic statement reminds me …
JUNE 19, 2020 – “This is where they died,” said Tom. I knew immediately his reference . . * * * Between classes one morning barely a month into my freshman year of college nearly four years before, I checked my mailbox in the basement of the Moulton Union. There I found a letter from …
JUNE 18, 2020 – (Cont.) – Among the “rascals” was Tom, a middle school classmate of mine whom I hadn’t seen since I’d been sent to boarding school eight years before. We hadn’t been particularly close friends, but we’d been together in band (Tom on trumpet; I on drums) and track (he, the sprinter; I, …
JUNE 17, 2020 – On our drive yesterday in the full splendor of early summer, we passed a column of dump trucks lumbering in the opposite lane toward a road construction zone behind us. The trucks reminded me of the summer when I drove one. I was between college and law school and looking for …
JUNE 15, 2020 – At the Red Cabin we have a TV but only for watching movies the old-fashioned way—via DVDs. But soon after my wife bought a large antique cabinet with doors and mounted the TV inside, we got used to the cabinet and forgot all about the TV. A year ago, though, we …
JUNE 14, 2020 – Well, I’d had what I thought were big ideas. Yesterday, my wife and I drove up to The Red Cabin for a few days of respite from the world as it is being depicted these troubling times. Some awful stuff. In the rush to get out of town, we forgot to …
JUNE 13, 2020 – Covid-19 and the murder of George Floyd, Jr. remind us again that we can’t handle more than two big stories at once. (The economy and the November election are sub-stories of the two main stories.) Actually, one big story: Covid-19 is hanging in there by the string of a face mask …
JUNE 12, 2020 – I’m grateful for my Trump-supporting clients. They bring out the better angels of my nature, and perhaps this rapport models how our nation might avoid wholesale rupture. There is no magic to my conversations; no special formula, no complicated blueprint. Just two things: 1. Money; and 2. Mutual respect. First, the …
JUNE 10, 2020 – . . . young kids will still ask long before the halfway mark of a long road-trip. Likewise, two weeks into the post-George Floyd, Jr. era, we white-liberals behind the wheel can’t help but ask the same: “Are we there yet” in ending our nation’s legacy of discrimination? It’s the inevitable …
JUNE 8, 2020 – As the train of justice hurtles down the track and we privileged folks decide whether to (a) jump aboard; (b) jump out of the way; or (c) get run over, I must sing the praises of the baked potato. The track isn’t smooth, so in walking through the carriages toward the …
JUNE 6, 2020 – On the way to our cabin recently, we saw a huge, road-side sign that read, “HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.” Honestly, the sign didn’t remind me of today–the anniversary of D-Day, start of the Allied invasion of Normandy to drive Hitler’s Wehrmacht back to Germany; an operation that …
JUNE 4, 2020 – Recently, my wife’s extended family lost one of its elder stateswomen—Carol Piper, married to my mother-in-law’s late brother, Bob Piper. Carol was a favorite of mine, of everyone in the ever-expanding family. She died at 93 after a life well lived. Born in the U.P., she moved “south” to Chicago for …
MAY 31, 2020 – Instead of Netflix over the last three evenings, my wife and I have watched “Riots in the Street,” starring . . . people in the streets. Fortunately, thanks to Governor Walz’s leadership, last night ended differently from the previous two. Exhausted by the ongoing crisis, my wife retired early. I stayed …
MAY 28, 2020 – Yesterday evening in my chair of privilege I faced the stark, tragic reality of America: Grant’s defeat. Two nights before, Netflix had been acting up, depriving me of my regular fix of The Medicis. I switched to the History Channel and chanced upon a three-part documentary about Ulysses S. Grant, produced …
MAY 23, 2020 – Last night I hit the halfway mark of a “pre-galley” copy of my bro-in-law’s memoir, That Time of Year. I don’t want to prejudice the three, four people who have been assigned the task of critical review of the work . . . you know who you are; if you’re reading …
MAY 21, 2020 – From the perspective of isolation at the Red Cabin, the outside world seems even more cartoonish than when we’re back in the city surrounded by the cacophony of civilization. Up here spring is at least a couple of weeks behind, the effect of which is similar to what you experience when …
MAY 18, 2020 – When I was a kid, whistling was common. My dad was a virtuoso whistler. The forte and mezzo-forte allegro and allegretto parts he whistled conventionally, that is, through puckered lips. The piano and mezzo-piano andante and largo pieces he whistled through his teeth. He was the only whistler I ever heard …
MAY 15, 2020 – I’m now in week four of my Garage Clean-up Project. It’s a puzzle for which the solution keeps changing; an art studio of endless possibilities—all accompanied by . . . radio. In this regard I could be more creative, more productive. I could assemble a playlist of favorite “songs” . . …