Thursday is without rain, at least not yet. This morning my sister came to mind. I spoke with her by phone yesterday, understanding with difficulty her speech. She has battled schizophrenia and diabetes for her entire adult life. Today she expects to meet with a surgeon. She is in pain due to an infection…
…this sluggish paradise. A human being protected from all normal and natural hardship simply is not alive. We inhabit insecurely a world which must of its intransitory nature be insecure. The tyranny of mindless technology. It is well to use the wheel. But it is fatal to be bound to it. We are trapped…
THE DIAGNOSIS This generation of Americans has become so steeped in greed and social Darwinism that it can no longer distinguish between cheating and achieving, between enterprise and crime and can’t bring itself to criticize winners any more than it knows how to be nice to losers. An increasing number of Americans agree that…
More rain and some pics from today’s NY Times. And then there is a need that each should understand where he came from and what he is—- and what will become of him. –Wulfstan, Archbishop of York from 1002 to 1023
Climate change is manifest by extreme weather events. Over the past two days the backyard has soaked up so much water that a footfall instantly produces water welling up around my shoe. It’s 6PM and rain continues to fall. Recently I read that Anglo-Saxon England of the 10th century was also going through a…
One can wonder what our ancestors did for recreation absent video screens. After a steady rain in the evening, the morning dawned with light rain and a gusting wind. Out of doors plans made little sense under these conditions. To remain dry and warm the day would be spent indoors. Like many middle class…
A comment left by a friend last night reminisced on the Legend of King Arthur. The legend suggests that merry ole England was ruled by a chivalrous king and nobles. This could not have been further from the truth. We love our myths: American exceptionalism, manifest destiny and everyone’s favorite “the American dream.” The…
Sun’s-day Moon-day Tiw’s-day Woden’s-day Thor’s-day Frig’s-day Saturn’s-day Thunor, god of thunder and Frig, goddess of growing things and fertility…. Perhaps it is both human and wise, like King Redwald, to keep in favor with both sides. Two altars were constructed side by side. At one altar the king partook of bread and wine, “the…
Love should not be written in stone but written in water. –Cattulus Very little is objectively known of the life of Gaius Valerius Catullus. It is believed that he was born in Verona in 84 B.C. to a wealthy and well-connected family. Catullus’ father was a friend of Julius Caesar. He died in Rome…
Am reading about England of 1000 AD. The book by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger is an enjoyable read of the conditions of life in the Middle Ages, dealing with Viking raids, settlements by the Norsemen, and the development of Christianity. I imagine the story as a time capsule sent to me from my…
