Yesterday was the day after the going-out-of-business announcement of Art Van Furniture. The Metro Detroit based company folded just three years after being purchased by a private equity firm, Thomas H. Lee Partners. The firm purchased the Midwest largest retail furniture and mattress retailer, founded in 1957 by Archie Van Elslander. Thriving for…
Uncertain about what to write this morning. The coffee shop was jammed at 7AM. Fortunately I claimed the last open table. Yesterday I took a hour long walk along the Fox river into town. Soon, the singing of the wind through the tall oaks, the voices of the Canada Geese on the water replaced…
Once again we met last night at the Agora in Geneva. I use the term as a metaphor for a public meeting space, the Barnes & Noble at Geneva Commons. As in Socrates day a circle of us gathered to ask questions which have no final answer, the enigmas that have and will follow…
Life can be imagined in many metaphors. Word-images “say” more that any formulaic, extended description, a one-to-one correlation between word/syntax and external reality. Life cannot be reduced to any logical, rule like convention. The metaphor rising in my imagination labeled “life” is the memory of a river rafting experience on the Hood River in…
Consequent to a phone conversation with a friend yesterday, I was asked to write about the covid-19 epidemic that is much in the media. His suggestion seemed like a good idea to me. Who is not aware of the recently discovered virus, belonging to the corona family that has made many sick in Hubei…
Creatures of habit. I am, — no question about it. Yesterday I walked away. I left a place where I have worked daily, departing from my role as owner of a company, the chief problem solver. The wind-down has been gradual, beginning six months ago. After a day of labor to tear down the…
I read an essay written by a friend, a recollection of the 60s when our country was riven by division. The up and coming generation took to the streets to protest the sending of their generation to kill Vietnamese, on the pretext of halting communism. The rift in our society was political and ethical. …
Today is our last day in Galena. Our accommodations are about a quarter mile from the home where U.S. Grant and his family lived. We could walk to the Grant place. It is on a bluff. The elevation affords a grand view of Galena. I consider that the high elevations around the town are…
It has been a while since visiting the Mississippi river town. It is close enough for a short road trip, a get-away from the day to day routine of home base. Everyone benefits from adventure. Travel brings different scenery, others whose way of life differs from our own. Who doesn’t desire to tell their…
The Beginning 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was…. There is always a beginning, at…
