All life, and consequently the life of history, is made up of simple moments, each of them relatively undetermined in respect to the previous one, so that in it reality hesitates, walks up and down, and is uncertain whether to decide for one or other of various possibilities. …this metaphysical hesitancy which gives to…
Two weeks traveling with a friend to the west, – from Illinois, to Missouri, to Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The occasion for the trip was a book which my friend plans to write, a definitive book about the history and importance of carousel animals for American culture. I felt lucky to…
January 8th will be the birthday of Elvis Presley. Plato was no fan of poetry. Plato, a professor of philosophy, Athenian who lived 4th Century BCE, expressed aversion to the arts. Plato was pointed in his criticism of poetry. He believed that poetry especially when combined with the emotional stimulus of music was dangerous. …
I saw it! In the blink of an eye I witnessed a “miracle” of language. Seated at the table for the evening meal, my grand daughter was in a fickle mood in relation to the food on her plate. Children are often uncertain about whether to consume the food selections made for them by…
A gray day with a fine mist falling. I do not mind the mist. In fact I attempted opening this computer screen outside on the patio table. I did not mind the infrequent mosquito. I peered at this glowing screen, feeling the keyboard surface at my finger tips moistened by the palpable mist. The…
My day began at 6AM. These are community yard sale days here in Batavia. I did what I could to assist with staging items in our driveway, preparing for the early-comers. The early birds are intent upon surveying as many places possible, looking for the odd item to be treasured, or something they need. …
Sunday is the aftermath of Senate approval of the 1.9 trillion aid package for a battered national. No republican senator voted for the bill. It stands to reason that many are destitute with no remaining options, — food and shelter balanced on the knife-edge of being called back to the workplace after long months…
But in the loneliest wilderness happeneth the second metamorphosis: here the spirit becometh a lion; freedom will it capture, and lordship in its own wilderness. Its last Lord it here seeketh: hostile will it be to him, and to its last God; for victory will it struggle with the great dragon. What is the…
There are times when “reality” is just too much. Yesterday I felt as if I had reached such a time. I must turn away from thinking about “the mad king” who tightens his grasp upon power. He wants nothing more than to negate the outcome of the election of several weeks ago. All the…
West Chicago is not my hometown. It does remind me however of the place where I was born, where I grew to adulthood, Durham, North Carolina. Do I bear the traces of where I grew up, in my DNA? Sometimes I think so. I would visit there more often, if we lived closer. I…
