America and Americans have been able to do whatever we wanted — and gotten away with it. We spread our footprint over this continent, then our influence over the rest of the world — and have got away with it. Others have admired us for the range of our freedoms, how we’ve celebrated liberty,…
Yesterday was my birthday. Yes I know, April 1st is the day set aside so that everyone can play the jokester if they desire. That fits my temperament. Life is highly improbable, unlikely, fragile and thus is suitable material for ironic humor. What are the odds that I am here, that I continue to…
We are at the beginning of a hard time. My father’s generation knew the beginning of hard times when Pearl Harbor was attacked. They responded to the demands of those circumstances. They passed the test. We will know if we have passed our test in the months that are to come. One never knows…
In my early 20’s I lived for several years in Tokyo. One of my first memories of that very big city was a visit to a coffee shop. The place was small, just a few tables, as are most such places in big cities. Located below grade in a basement, it was dark, haze…
China has been much in the news. Over the past several weeks we have heard of the measures the Chinese government has taken to combat the spread of the covid-19 virus which emerged in Wuhan. The direct and severe restrictions on travel, and imposed confinement seems to have blunted the spread of the potentially…
These are unprecedented days. Nothing like this has come before in my memory. The science fiction writers have imagined stories of circumstances that massively threatened the survival of humanity, stories of microbes. Remember War of the Worlds by Orson Wells? As a kid I remember sneaking an illicit reading of the story from a…
I shared my thoughts about the inspiring scale, the dispassionate ineluctable “thusness” of Nature as observed/felt in the mighty advance of a river over a dam as it flows to the sea, and the life-form of a virus. Upon reading the post a friend inquired if I could put my point in a more…
The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn’t the real point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call…
Tuesday. The weather grows a few degrees warmer by the day. What if I ride the bicycle north, on the path alongside the river toward Geneva? The drive to Geneva takes about 10 minutes, so that will be an easy bike ride. I’ve used the Schwinn bike more since the imposed seclusion to the…
Life goes on, life is, must be lived, on the cusp of catastrophe, in the midst of chaos, and also, in the aftermath of the storm. There is always work to be done, and moments of joy to be savored. I spent the better part of my day yesterday out of doors. A substantial…
