Ahh, Summerfest, the annual music festival on the Milwaukee lakefront. Anticipation of Summerfest keeps me going in the dark and often bitter Midwestern winters. It’s all about the music, –nine performance venues! Music and beer. Ok, non-alcoholic libation is for sale too. I thought of the ancient god of wine, of ritual madness, fertility,…
Friday July 1st, the holiday weekend begins. We made our way to Kraklauer Park. Annually our town holds a four day community festival on the spacious lawn adjacent to Santa Maria church. A big circus-sized tent is pitched and filled with picnic tables. Outside is a lineup of local food vendors. I walked over…
I awakened on Sunday morning. My first thought of the day, on Thursday a majority of Brits decided to leave the EU. The European Union is a block of nations that have agreed to use a common currency, to establish a common regulation of trade, and to have open borders easing the movement of…
Everything is context. The severe weather missed us. A gentle rain had fallen over night. I walked over to the garden. The dark wet earth framed the lush, soft green of the young tomato plants. I noticed some weeds that survived the hoe, making their come back. I pulled a few, throwing them to…
Music disseminates truth, A weapon of mass instruction. Our music is family unrelated by blood. It contains multitudes. We must be vigilant We must be citizen soldiers Stripped of fear. Our optimism is magnified In our music. We sing of ourselves. The songs we create Address our own condition, Will ultimately sing of another,…
For the past 5 or 6 years I have put in a small vegetable garden. It’s a month to month process of work, and I have the help of multitudes. What I mean is the presence of the botanists who developed the “Better Boy” hybrid tomato plant, the chemists who worked out the method…
There is a park in Mundelein. A creek runs through the park, providing sanctuary for finches, red wing black birds, and more that I do not recognize. Wild flowers in abundance crowd the opposing banks. Children find adventure descending the stone faced banks to peer into the shallow, slow flowing stream. The more daring…
“attacked me like some fucking ninja” May 19, 2016 5. i had to buy a wristwatch – well, wanted to – since i was sick of digging my fob watch out, and feel a reluctance to rely on mobile phones for the time. i bought a Seiko 5 after watching a great video on the…
From Nancy: I was a high school senior — 17 or probably 18 — when I wrote this, apparently feeling less infallible than usual. I do notice that at 61, I still apologize after committing an inadvertent injury. But my opinions have marinated for decades so I’m less willing to reconsider them without…
Wow! What a Tuesday evening at Beans & Leaves. The house was full and we commenced to “do philosophy” sparked by the lyrics of Bob Dylan. Dylan is iconic of a time, and of a generation. We all pass, but our work lives on if we are lucky. Peter, a serious fan of…
