Edward O. Wilson, Harvard professor for 46 years, pioneer of Evolutionary Biology died at age 92 this past Thursday. Wilson was born and raised in Alabama. As a boy he became interested in ants. At the age of 13 he was first to discover the presence of fire ants in the United States,…
Not much to say this morning. It is gray, raining. We need the rain. I am speaking for the vegetation, trees, grass, shrubs and everything really. Do we not all live by virtue of water? Blood is water. At the same time, too much water and a flood soon follows. Too much of anything…
Christmas day is different for each of us. One day of the year is laden with so many expectations. Some of those expectations are impossible, even if we understand them with better clarity. When I pause to consider, the hopes, the trepidation which a parent invests in a child, — as the years spool…
Soon, very soon the two year old in the house will awaken. Will she remember it is Christmas morning? This is the time! It is a point in time when she will begin to learn what the myth, what the tradition, what the practice of Christmas means. The meaning of Christmas cannot be reduced…
Yesterday the news came that Joan Didion died on Thursday. She was 87 years old. I did not know her personally, only through her collection of essays Slouching Toward Bethlehem. She wrote about the chaos of the 60s. Her writing electrified me, and made sense, in a primal way of the extremes that had…
Are there not many ways to think about, well everything? Certainly! Who would disagree. Several days ago, I posted a reflection about Christmas that was about change, about illusion, and about “reality.” At the time I wanted to tell a post-modern story of an event that has occurred for over two millennia. Early today when…
A high point of the holidays has been the Tuesday evening Zoom meetings of a group of friends for a discussion of ideas. I understand how unusual to recognize time spent on a Zoom virtual meeting to be agreeable, pleasurable. The past two sessions have been unusual as we’ve had nothing on the agenda,…
LUKE 2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went…
I did not post anything yesterday. That’s the first day missed in three years. I am blessed, lucky, and there’s no explanation, nothing I have done to merit good health, the ability to consistently write. How much does civilization, not to mention bare existence owe to dumb luck? What are the odds that you…
Saturday, and it is quiet in the Starbucks seating area. This serene atmosphere will change soon. Families are sure to arrive, busy with Christmas shopping here in Geneva. The space will be crowded, as customers wait for a warm beverage. Last night I joined my best friend of over 50 years for a dinner…
