Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 30, 2022 – (Cont.) Just as the train pulled to a stop at the closest station, my tires gripped, shooting my “bubble car” past the tracks and fishtailing across the street in front of oncoming traffic. Ahead lay the clinic with a “Covid Vaccinations Here” sign sticking out of a snowbank near the entrance. …
DECEMBER 29, 2022 – In retrospect, I’m surprised by my adaptation to circumstances, but a couple of days ago, behind my astonishment lay self-doubt and rising fear. For the past 13 months I’ve lived a “bubble existence.” It was that long ago that I was last inside someone else’s house—the Connecticut home of our son …
DECEMBER 28, 2022 – (Cont.) I think of people as candles, each bearing a flame. Most people illuminate their immediate surroundings, then fade and disappear; some people light up the world before their flames flicker, then die. A few burn most powerfully after the wax and wick are long gone. Mozart is an example of …
DECEMBER 26, 2022 – I’m well into that paradoxical stage of life when the more I learn, the more I learn I haven’t. This is particularly true of my knowledge of history; not just what’s “fascinating” but what’s necessary for an understanding of the world and essential to counter repetition of its darkest moments. Some …
DECEMBER 25, 2022 – My wife is a loyal fan of CBS News Sunday Morning. I’m not, and I don’t have a good reason for my non-fan status. Often, while sitting in an adjoining room hammering out my daily post, I’ll hear Beth laugh in amusement over some feature of the show or call out, …
DECEMBER 23, 2022 – This year I’ve fully grasped that none of us is as rugged or independent as claimed by our culture of “freedom” and “liberty.” I became acutely aware of my dependence. The great “cure” for the delusion of self-reliance, I discovered, was serious illness; diagnosis and treatment of a “killer disease” depended …
DECEMBER 20, 2022 – Blogger’s note: I apologize for the length of this post, but the project it describes was itself a long one. Last summer I embarked on the haphazard design and construction of a “gnome home” for our granddaughter. I had no idea that the project would become a metaphor for life. Over …
DECEMBER 18, 2022 – When you’re young, you dream big dreams. When you’re old, you light your pipe, lean back in the recliner and recall the big dreams that might’ve been but for circumstances . . . beyond . . . ahem . . . your control. In my case, the big dream derailed because …
DECEMBER 12, 2022 – Nuclear fusion. Sorry to burst your bubble. With a title like “Big News!” doubtless you were half-expecting . . . big news. If it’s not exactly how we or the media would define “big news,” tomorrow’s official announcement about a breakthrough in harnessing energy produced by nuclear fusion is a critical …
DECEMBER 10, 2022 – When I started this project on April 14, 2018, I had high hopes that I could run round the writing track daily for 200 days. Based on a self-imposed daily limit of 500 words, 200 days would net 100,000 words—the equivalent of a modest length book (not including preface, index and …
DECEMBER 2, 2022 – It was inevitable: becoming my parents. Though we boomers like to deny it, “becoming our parents” isn’t an isolated phenomenon. If you think otherwise, search YouTube for “Progressive commercials on becoming your parents.” Before you know it, you’ll watch and laugh so hard at half a dozen of the ads, you’ll …
DECEMBER 1, 2022 – The days leading up to the transplant passed all too quickly. I was feeling great, but being very much a medical wimp, I dreaded the procedure that loomed ever closer and feared what could be an excruciatingly slow, protracted and unpleasant recovery process. Why couldn’t time stop where I was? More …
NOVEMBER 21, 2022 – It’s been four days since I’ve seen another human being but not since I’ve interacted with many—by phone, text and email. In fact, I spent many hours today on the phone; mostly contentious, anxiety-ridden or otherwise demanding business calls. They were a reminder of how removed most of my life has …
NOVEMBER 20, 2022 – Last night I repeated a Red Cabin routine (when the weather’s clear): I went outside to check the stars. After stepping down from our side porch onto a fresh blanket of snow . . . I gasped. In eerie silence the silhouetted woods touched a celestial vault filled with stars of …
NOVEMBER 19, 2022 – Inside the Red Cabin (with white trim—candy cane colors!) and surrounded outside by fresh, powder snow and arctic temperatures, I feel a bit like Santa Claus; more so because all day I’ve been working on our granddaughter’s Christmas present: the most elaborate gnome home I’ve ever designed. Earth’s latest rotation, however, …
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 11, 2022 – If we look back on this day 104 years ago—originally Armistice Day; “Veterans Day” after June 1, 1954—the great rising and falling powers of Europe, drained of blood and purpose, called a halt to the mutual mayhem and destruction that had decimated an entire generation. Along the way, Russia was turned …
NOVEMBER 7, 2022 – This evening I ventured out to see the full moon emerge from its wanderings in the exotic East. Here at the Red Cabin, which faces the lake due south, deep woods obstruct the sky east and north. To catch the moonrise, I’d have to follow a woodland trail to a promontory …
NOVEMBER 2, 2022 – Today while bud-capping white pine trees in the “tree garden,” I spotted a four-year old seedling nestled up against an old, pin oak tree. The red leaves of a raspberry plant, backlit by Apollo’s chariot, dangled over the pine. A nice picture, I thought. Just as I reached for my iPhone, …
OCTOBER 9, 2022 – As human knowledge and experience advance, so does our perspective grow sharper via ever more powerful microscopic and and telescopic lenses. As I walk in the great outdoors, my eyes unaided by lenses other than what nature has thus far fashioned for our species (and corrected by eyewear), I wonder what …
OCTOBER 8, 2022 – This morning I drove to the Red Cabin, hoping I’d catch the fall foliage at its peak. The scenery along the way confirmed I had. A thousand times I wanted to stop to take a picture—or two or 10—but if I did so once, I’d likely do so repeatedly and wouldn’t …
OCTOBER 7, 2022 – Today while hiking through our local Garden of Eden, I read some of the tags that the park service had nailed to a number of big, beautiful trees. Each tag identified the species, its characteristics, and in almost every case, what the tree was “good for . . .” These descriptions …
OCTOBER 6, 2022 – Lately, several people have recommended that I read The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. These recommendations supplement the many earlier endorsements I’d received over the years from friends. In fact, I’ve read the book, and found it important enough to add to my “re-read” stack. If you haven’t read …
OCTOBER 5, 2022 – As followers of this blog know, I was once a compulsive runner. Or more precisely, I was a compulsive “run away,” who, to escape self-doubt, lived to eat, read (about training), and run. Every day of law school, I ran a loop along both sides of the Mississippi River from the …
OCTOBER 3, 2022 – Today marks six weeks from “chemo-blast-off.” To celebrate, I took a long walk in nearby Como Park. As I admired the many trees that have become my friends, I contemplated the generations of park visitors who’ve also laid eyes on those oak, pine, maple, locust, chestnut, and cottonwood (to name a …