The greater part of human activity is designed to make permanent those experiences and joys which are only lovable because they are changing. Music is a delight because of its rhythm and flow. Yet the moment you arrest the flow and prolong a note or a chord beyond its time, the rhythm is destroyed….
At every moment we are crushed by the idea and the sensation of time. There are only two ways of escaping from this nightmare, of forgetting it: pleasure and work. Pleasure exhausts us. Work strengthens us. Let us choose. In every man, at every time, there are two simultaneous tendencies -one towards God, the…
A gentle rain falls under a gray sky. We need the rain. Last night a group of us discussed the relationship between critical thinking and war. The first issue to be considered has to be what one has in mind by the term “war.” The soldier in a combat zone understands that the word…
Thoreau’s Pumpkins by Ginny Lowe Connors It is thought that Henry David Thoreau was the first American to plant Potiron Jaune Grosse, a variety of large yellow pumpkin. Six seeds from France began it all. No abracadabra required, no alacazam— just a bit of manure, some hoeing, a little rain, and…
Columbus Day 2022. Today is a federal holiday and traffic is noticeably lighter. “A day off” is appreciated especially by students, who get to sleep-in this morning. The fall days are superlative as the mornings edge toward the appearing of frost. Leaves are beginning to fall. Vegetation has an arc of lifespan as do…
Often I have something in mind to write about. I read. Thoughts conveyed by others often imperfectly understood, capture my imagination. I feel a compulsion to write something, because instinct says an insight important for the future is worthy of exploration. We are “in this thing called life,” together are we not? It is…
Friday, another “end” of the work-week. But this Friday is incomparable to any other that has ever been… The Starbucks room here at 3rd and State contains a configuration of individuals, various, by socio-economic status, or by the arc of a standard lifetime, a group of high school students, and I, a retiree… Never…
Broken Brix is a winery & cidery in St. Charles. The two of us stopped in for a few minutes of conversation, to relax in the comfortable atmosphere, the bar displaying hints of the infinite possibilities of taste inherent in the art of brewing. Almost always Steve, the owner warmly greets us from behind…
…the world is immense, truly, and the way we’re doing things in this world is only one of the many ways we might be doing them. Once you know this, then you know that we’re not just alive, we’re the bearers of life. Anything can change. -excerpt Shadow Dancing in the USA, by Michael…
