Other Musings Another Deluge Last week, we drove through the Hudson River Valley, doing our best to dodge the final few punches of a storm that dropped twelve inches of rain on our destination in the Catskills. The Catskills, you may know, are the result of millions of years of sediment from the bottom
Other Musings A Midsummer Journal I have reached the point in summer when I am tired of mowing the lawn—tired of conducting routine maintenance across a landscape that is burned out, anemic, and sloughing off space to various weeds and crabgrasses. It is not like pruning lilacs or weeding the vegetable garden, both of
Other Musings The Deep Green I am looking at a wall of deep, forest green, against which my whip and chair seem poorly matched.
Other Musings With Our Grandchildren Somewhere along the line, a person and place become one. I have two places—two versions of me—one being a small town in the northeast corner of the Catskill Mountains called Tannersville, and the other, what used to be a small town just over the border in Canada called
Other Musings National Ice Cream Month Hope is present in a cone, a cup, or under a mountain of whipped cream and hot fudge sauce, cherry on top.
Other Musings I Wuv Woadwork It is roadwork season. Wherever we go around New England, at some point we will be down to one lane.
Other Musings Burn, Drag, Split, Stack A pile of wood—branches and brush, or full-grown timber—imposes its presence. It can stop a truck.
Other Musings Grits Just Come "Even if you don’t order them, grits just come. Same with email. Email just comes."
Other Musings Bridge Out I think we should not build any additional bridges until after the next epoch, whatever that is. Maybe after the next ice age.
Other Musings How Was Your Winter? Huckleberry and I hiked out to the secluded Shattuck Pond last week, which is about a mile from our back door, up the hill and through the woods. It has been closed to us since heavy snow accumulated, although I can’t remember how long that’s been. By now,
Other Musings March Madness I have always questioned the virtue of awarding an extra hour of evening daylight to March. I feel sure the month was as surprised to get the win as April was the loss. We are not quite prepared for the added benefit around here. It’s like having guests arrive
Other Musings Too Bad You missed It And, thus, in those few minutes, I was possibly as comfortable, and at rest, as I had been in fifty years.
Other Musings Winter Distemper I think the deep freeze we have been experiencing is making everything irritable
Other Musings Report from the Outside World Except for those sanctuaries we have discovered along the way, we drove two thousand miles through an unimaginative, impersonal wasteland.
Other Musings Gripped by Vortex It is the season when I feel the undertow of email offers, direct mail catalogues, and the bombast of television commercials. They won’t get me.
Other Musings Shop and Drop. When you shop like. . . I do, you rarely win prizes for Best Overall Present at the holidays.
Other Musings Bare Trees Nature...does not usually confront us with the piled-up carcasses of once living things—not, at least, in the normal course of business.
Other Musings Standard Time—Sort of Of course, “standard time” is a misnomer. Time is far from standard around the world.
Other Musings Holiday Megalopolis It is within the power of marketing to transform any inherently good and joyful thing into one of those over-muscled people, wearing a Speedo.
Other Musings Thanks for Working Today Since we were together last, I attended a college reunion of sorts in Schenectady, New York. It was the 200th anniversary of the fraternity I belong to, and let me point out, I was around for the 150th. On the appointed evening, there was the obligatory reception and dinner, which
Other Musings Local Newspapers Are Our Best Defense Where is our final line of defense under the circumstances? The local newspaper.
Other Musings When the Inspector Calls A singer’s got to sing, a dancer’s got to dance, and an inspector's got to find stuff.
