Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JANUARY 28, 2021 – My first “chew” was Juicy Fruit—Dad’s brand. Occasionally, Mother chewed gum (her favorite was Chiclets), but Dad was our family’s main gum-chewer. He never chewed alone. He always offered us kids some Juicy Fruit too. Dad’s generosity, however, was limited by frugality: he himself never chewed a whole stick of gum, …
APRIL 27, 2020 – Earlier this month (See 4/5, 4/6 posts) I wrote about the classic, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I mentioned that Don Simón Rodriguez, the boyhood tutor of Simón Bolívar, El Libertador, had said of Defoe’s classic, “Everything you need to know is in this book.” I’m now three-quarters into the account …
APRIL 26, 2020 – Recently, down our alley I encountered our hotshot lawyer-neighbor sweeping furiously his garage floor—and immersing himself in a cloud of dust. I imagined him trying to destroy a hostile witness on cross-ex(amination). I also imagined my grandfather disapproving the way Mr. Hotshot was handling the broom. Born in 1895 Grandpa Holman …
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 – My friend Steve repeatedly cites several aphorisms that help explain humanity. Here I describe three. Continually I encounter evidence supporting their validity. FIRST: “NO ONE IS AN A-STUDENT AT EVERYTHING.” By this Steve means that limits exist to the range of everyone’s competencies. Your plumber might be brilliant at installing a …
JUNE 9, 2019 – Though Dad died over nine years ago, I still think a lot about him—what he would think, what he would have to say about one thing or another. I’m especially aware of him when I’m up at the lake, walking the woods, observing nature or . . . working on some …
MAY 14, 2019 – Today is bright and sunny. That wasn’t the case nine years ago. Dark, thick clouds darkened the day, and a hard rain fell most of the morning and into the afternoon. It was the day of Dad’s funeral. He had played a prominent, positive role in my life, and I was …
APRIL 19, 2019 – I remember well the day. It was early in my career at the venerable law firm with roots nearly as old as St. Paul itself. I’d been assigned to the litigation department, where I was learning in the shadow of old masters and in the wake of young go-getters. Many of …