Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
FEBRUARY 13, 2026 – Today a wholly clear smooth on-time uneventful two-hour and seven-minute Delta flight took us from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Hartford . . . to visit our two-and-a-half year old grandson, his new baby sister . . . and their parents. The 90 minutes in MSP terminal were a reminder that perhaps I …
JANUARY 4, 2026 – Yesterday, our old-fashioned mail delivery service dropped into the mail slot of our old-fashioned house, an old-style letter envelope containing two ancient letters and two postcards of the same vintage as the two very old letters. On the face of one of the postcards was a Post-It Note bearing the handwriting …
DECEMBER 12, 2025 – Life lately has been a blur of images—as is often the case during a period featured by the absence of “dull moments.” But when you feel the train wheels bouncing off the tracks, you stay with the train. You trust that gravity, die Bahn, der Zug, and a pinch of good …
NOVEMBER 24, 2025 – Yesterday, while I was taking full advantage of the mild Minnesota weather and stringing Christmas lights around our shrubs out front, our neighbors at the end of the block, Joan and Kent, strolled by with dogs in tow. We exchanged greetings, and the people called a mutual time-out for “catch-up” conversation, …
NOVEMBER 4, 2025 – Our day’s end stop Monday was at the Picchetti Winery in the rustic heights above Cupertino. The product of this +140-year-old establishment—now consisting of 9,000 cases of wine a year—is sold only through wine clubs across the country. Our tour guides, Russ and Kerri, have been members for decades and have …
NOVEMBER 1, 2025 – Today we awoke to yet another day of perfect weather across one of America’s signature cities. After a high-style breakfast of gourmet (Swedish) pancakes prepared and presented by Kerri, the four of us drove to the short distance to Chinatown. Our route took us through the Tenderloin District and past a …
OCTOBER 31, 2025 – Among the people with whom we circulate, the mere mention of politics inevitably prompts expressions of despair. Fear, anger and anxiety dominate the ensuing conversations—and social media posts. There are no two ways about it, we find ourselves saying to one another: the country is circling the drain. But we owe …
OCTOBER 30, 2025 – The first highlight of our trip to San Francisco, of course, was our happy reunion with Russ and Kerri. Our connection ties back to common ancestors of Russ and me: Emma and August Svensson, our great grandparents. After introducing us to their quarters (between September and November)—and ours for the next …
OCTOBER 29, 2025 – Yesterday we flew to San Francisco to visit our inimitable California cousins, led by über-hosts Russ and Kerri. Three’s the charm: over the past year this is our third attempt to make the trip. The highlights of this journey will be the people—plenty of laughter; scintillating, full-spectrum conversations; delectable culinary experiences; …
SEPTEMBER 25, 2025 – Today my wife and her traveling companions (three of her cousins) arrived back from a 12-day sojourn in Ireland. Early this morning I checked on the flight status to see if the seven-hour trip was delayed in getting under way. It had departed as scheduled. Three hours later I checked again …
JULY 24, 2025 – At my wife’s instigation, I went off campus today for the first time in more than a week. Since she was the one to suggest a field trip, she went too—wink, wink. She navigated; I drove. Our excursion took us from the Red Cabin on the weather-bound shores of Grindstone Lake, …
JULY 5, 2025 – (Cont.) Sunday evening we and Byron’s family enjoyed dinner al fresco at “Marker 37,” next to the Chester Marina on the Connecticut River. The restaurant name is a reference to the 37th nautical marker (starting at the mouth at Long Island Sound, about six and a half miles downstream). If you …
JULY 4, 2025 – (Cont.) On Sunday, our last full day in Connecticut for this third annual June sojourn, we awoke to a short downpour. In the aftermath, the lingering mist over the cove teased our imaginations and distracted us quite effectively from the artificiality of the “real world” that dominates the news. Once we’d …
JULY 3, 2025 – (Cont.) On the next-to-last day of our annual June visit to Connecticut, we adopted a turtle’s pace, in large part because of the extreme heat, but also because the day was given over to our young grandchildren. They were perfectly content at the local small municipal swimming beach; no long drive …
JULY 2, 2025 – (Cont.) On Friday evening, as we entered the last weekend of our extended vacation, we hosted our good friends and next door neighbors, Steve and Lin and their daughter Syd. Byron’s family joined us as well, of course, given how closely they’re connected to these exceptional people. Our not-quite-two grandson is …
JULY 1, 2025 – Early Friday we bade farewell to the City and headed north . . . I mean east . . . I mean northeast . . . back to Yankeedom, to the “Constitution State.”[1] What I’ve realized quite recently is that the Connecticut shoreline along Long Island Sound doesn’t run on a …
JUNE 30, 2025 – (Cont.) The weather Thursday marked a radical departure from the wilting conditions that prevailed since our arrival Tuesday. All in our party agreed that predicted high of 75F and overcast skies would be perfect for walking the town. Jenny, our guide and consummate New Yorker, has many favorite places in the …
JUNE 27, 2025 – (Cont.) Our visit to the City revolved around the whims of our granddaughter, whose delightful imagination is always engaged. One of the great delights of our lives is having this unusual young person on hand. Any grandparent can readily appreciate this. When our big-hearted, ever-smiling, vivacious grandson was born—pretty much with all …
JUNE 26, 2025 – When you’re in Connecticut, people refer to Gotham not as “New York City” but simply as “the city.” I’ve never encountered this reference in writing, so I don’t know if it’s capitalized, but when I say it or hear it, I always think of it as capitalized, given the size and …
JUNE 25, 2025 – (Cont.) On Sunday morning we cleared out of old Lenox and headed for Stockbridge and the Norman Rockwell Museum. Our progress was deferred, however, by a sign at a junction just below Lenox. It read, “Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio.” I must here confess to extreme dereliction; my failure to have …
JUNE 24, 2025 – (Cont.) Before Saturday I knew three things about the Shakers: 1. Aaron Copeland had given them tribute in Appalachian Spring, arranged from the ballet music he’d composed for the Martha Graham Dance Company. (One of the signature melodies of the suite is from the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts.”); 2. They made …
JUNE 22, 2025 – On Friday we drove from our base of operations in Connecticut to Lenox, Massachusetts in the heart of the Berkshires. Our ultimate destination was yesterday evening’s performance of A Prairie Home Companion at nearby Tanglewood. The scenery in this part of the country is exquisite, featuring, of course, “the Berkshires.” If …
MAY 7, 2025 -Normally, Azerbaijan isn’t anywhere close to Falcon Heights, Minnesota, but this morning I encountered the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan (at one time part of Caucasian Albania[1]) at the geographic center of North America, a million miles from the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea, where you’d ordinarily find the modern …
FEBRUARY 21, 2025 – (Cont.) “I saw a stupid accident in Champlin on my return from the airport,” Dad wrote. A teenager on a bike tried to dart between the cars waiting for the stop light and got hit by cars in the third lane, which he didn’t notice were moving. He hit (or got …
FEBRUARY 19, 2025 – (Cont.) “Monica” was a Swedish woman, about the same age as I (25 at the time), whom I’d met on my first trip to Europe. She and two of her friends, all from Lund, were on a Greek holiday, and our initial encounter was aboard an overnight ferry from Brindisi to …