Defeated by the slow moving traffic on a inordinately chilled morning, I returned to home base. Reconsidering the day ahead, I had time for some emails and reading. I am eager to begin an essay by Heidegger, THE ORIGIN OF THE WORK OF ART. Here are some sentences from the first paragraph. On the…
Another bitter day. The cold stabs inadequately protected flesh like a stiletto. It’s a white death that is felt, something you know intuitively. I woke this morning with a shocking high blood glucose reading. Everything has a cause. I identified several possibilities, and changed my insulin pump setting. High blood sugar is another form…
Warming Arctic fuels polar vortex,—the end of our world. That is a headline which we will never see on the front page of the New York Times. Tell me that you have not thought of that possibility, the consequence of disruption of normal, seasonal weather patterns, such that commerce, agriculture, and social life…
Tuesday, the first of three days of bitter cold. With -3 degrees and a stiff breeze I changed my plans for the morning. On the road in the early morning sun, obliquely illuminating the snow covered fields, the drifts appeared as wind driven wavelets on a frozen lake. Perhaps an image of our lives,…
A blanket of snow, at least six inches covers everything. I imagine that this day could be recognized as a opportunity for the minimum, the most basic of chores, a day for rest and reflection. Not so for us who live in towns and suburbs. A snow fall presents an obstacle to be overcome,…
Certainly one does not put one’s beginnings over the horizon, in the rear view mirror of life. This Sunday morning I awakened early and made my way to Starbucks. Starbucks is the quintessential secular environment. Individuals or clusters of friends, and a few families sip coffee, enjoy a breakfast sandwich while concentrating their attention…
The bitter cold continues. Unaccountably I was not awakened by the alarm this morning. At least I have no memory of shutting the alarm off and returning to sleep. I customarily rise before sunup to begin my day. I enjoy a session of reading and writing to begin a day of activity. It seemed…
The sun is just above the eastern horizon and it’s bitter cold. After a siege of a severe head cold I am beginning to recover. Perhaps. I’ll conserve my strength and allow Nature to advance the recovery. There is only so much that I can do. I offer several quotations that are related. It…
I am fortunate. Throughout my adult life I’ve had little experience with sickness. There have been several occasions of minor surgical repair, with attendant recovery periods. I’ve had my share of colds, flu and virus infections, those onslaughts that run their course as the body marshals its defense. Unpleasant enough, but soon forgotten as…
I am feeling feverish this morning with a lingering cold. Snow continues to fall and the roads are a skating rink. I take satisfaction in knowing that Nature overwhelms the best of our engineering, the artificial habitat that we call civilization. Is that “schadenfreude” the pleasure felt at the misfortune of others? Yes, but…
