I am a chopper of wood and carrier of water, a keeper of bees, digger of soil, and washer of dishes, but when people ask me "what do you do" I usually satisfy them with "I'm in information technology." If they really want to know, I'll tell them about the decade as a wilderness guide. Some jobs are vocations, some are avocations, but that one was an evocation. I also wrangle pixels and try to herd them into representations of coherent thoughts, which is a provocation. :-)
We all like to consider ourselves educated, if not by traditional instutitions then by life experience, and ideally by combining some elements of both. Education means acquiring information that we did not have before. Continuing education means updating old information with new and adjusting our beliefs accordingly. Therein lies wisdom, and therein lies one of … More “We Rise Together Or We Fall Apart”
What did you do during that long holiday weekend?” “We stayed home,” the young woman said with a laugh. “It’s not just us then,” I replied, and she said, “No, a lot of our friends do the same now. It’s not worth the traffic and the trouble to go out. If we do need groceries … More I Am Not On Vacation
Here’s a word you can drop at the next family gathering and watch the eyebrows rise. The word is “weenus.” The weenus is the loose skin at the end of the elbow. It’s also known as the olecranal skin, but that’s not nearly as fun to say. That skin at the end of my elbow … More Mind the Elbows
In the woods beyond the kitchen window there is a stump which lost its tree soon after the house was built. We intended minimal clearing of the land but in the new light of the opened space, this tree and a few others revealed more menace in their lean than a body likes to sleep … More The Rock On The Stump
The 1941 classic movie, “How Green Was My Valley,” is the story of a past which can no longer be accessed except through memory. Today, we’re thinking of a different film, but our valley is most definitely green. Do you remember the 1982 Stephen King movie, “Creepshow,” where Jordy Verrill, played by King, and everything … More How Green Is My Valley
“Turning and turning in a widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold…The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” – “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats, 1919 Yeats’ poem was written soon after the end of WWI and it speaks of … More Of Bears and Bananas
One morning late last winter, there was a ruckus on the back porch. Dogs and cats were sounding their discontent. Our furballs grew up together but like any siblings, they sometimes disagree. We’ve learned not to be alarmed by their arguments, but we always investigate. Peaches is half Australian cattle dog, and her herding instincts … More Buddy
We shop the outside aisles at the grocery store. It’s healthier, and it’s cheaper if you plan for it. It’s also apparent in a number of studies that the ultra-processed foods we eat are shortening our lives while they enrich the sick-people business. There are times when time itself is the adversary of healthy eating. … More The Federation of Drive Through Restaurants
One of my favorite haunts as a child was a large stand of white pines on our grandparents’ farm. The trees were probably 30 years old at the time, and they formed a dense canopy which shaded the ground underneath. In the hot summer months, it was always cool under those trees, and quiet. The … More Of Luddites and Lard
I don’t watch the State of the Union address. I read the transcripts, but I’d rather watch a Youtube video on how to repair the latest malady of my money-pit truck, or a rerun of a 60-year-old sitcom. Since George H. W. Bush, the speech has been given by malefactors, amateurs, war criminals, charlatans, narcissists, … More The State of the Cove
Outside The Box 