I know I’m crazy. No diagnosis needed. A few days ago I was present for a concert at a local park district. The first song offered by the community chorus was our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. I’ve joined in singing the song hundreds of times since I was taught the tune in…
Torrential rains last night. The weather forecast maps displayed a line of thunder storms portending heavy rain, two to five inches, to fall within the span of a few hours. Persons living near creeks and rivers were warned of flooding. My parents generation did not have this precision of weather forecasting, nor did they…
Our final Philosophy Group discussion was held at Beans & Leaves. It was a full house. Food and drink were consumed to celebrate the work and friendships cultivated around the tables for the past several years. Our final meeting, was a beginning, the fold point for a renewed, vibrant, youthful iteration. For many reasons…
I finished signing up for Medicare yesterday. I am fortunate to have a friend, a insurance professional who is competent to coach me through the process. Insurance coverage for health care is a reminder of our mortality, that mind does not overrule matter. Despite the fantasies of youth this body which I inhabit is…
Jeff raised a concern. Jeff expressed a cautionary concern about losing oneself in sensual experience. Jeff thought that full-out pursuit of sensuality without abatement is counterproductive. In short, too much of anything is detrimental. I’ve taken a few days to consider Jeff’s words. The point is well taken. We live in a society that…
I do not feel sadness for Kurt. Kurt lived, and passed on as do all living things. Even the non-living suffer the effects of time. It takes much longer for a mountain to reach the sea, but eventually it does. Why are we here? I do not know. I am sure that as long…
Sunday morning. Back to my routine life. Just yesterday I was in Eagle River Wisconsin, the north woods. It is a country inhabited by wild life as much as by people. Over the 6 hour drive north past Milwaukee and Madison the flat expanses of cultivated fields gave way to aspen and spruce forests. …
The sensualist cries out, “Stay a bit, my tongue has not concluded its encounter; wait a moment for my smile to widen.” If the sensualist could, he would stretch time like a length of elastic….. But experience is not simply a river you can’t step into twice (Heraclitus): it is composed of unrebreathable sighs;…
To think philosophically is to ponder the range of human experience, as well as the tremendous width and breadth of words that have been written to explore, and make sense of that experience. A moment of discovery for the adult fortunate enough to have any curiosity left—-happens when a connection appears between two experiences…
We arrived with just a few minutes to spare. Could this be the place? The winding roads, up and down through the grassy hillsides, the hollows, not that far from the Ohio River were exhilarating and disorienting for two guys from Chicago. Additionally we had overlooked the loss of an hour of travel time…
